FinMin Misa: Gov't to consider ordinance amending the Tax Code on Wednesday

The Government on Wednesday will consider a draft ordinance amending the Tax Code, including the transfer of social contribution payments from employers to employees, Finance Minister Ionut Misa said on Monday.

"We have had a discussion with the prime minister. The prime minister has had talks at the party and on Wednesday a government meeting will be held, as announced, that will include the ordinance as already read for the first time, complete, with the transfer of contribution payments," Misa explained, adding that he discussed with the prime minister in the afternoon. 

"He told me that he had a discussion at the party level and on Wednesday the ordinance will enter the government meeting," said Misa. 

According to him, the government meeting to debate the ordinance amending the Tax Code announced for Monday was postponed because "there were some delays in opinions being issued on it," but now "we have all the opinions". 

Asked if the uniform public pay law could be applied as adopted, with a 25-percent wage increase as from January 2018, the minister replied that it could apply without any problems because "at the time the transfer of contribution payments was thought as a measure in the governance programme, the whole range of tax measures was taken into account and there will be no negative effect on the pay law." 

About the negative opinion issued by the Fiscal Council on the draft ordinance amending the Tax Code, Misa said that the organisation raised some issues that were mentioned in the substantiation of the draft in terms of impact, but that implementing the measures provided for therein will be no problem. 

"There is really a negative opinion from the Fiscal Council. The Fiscal Council raised some issues that we included in the substantiation of the draft, the impact assessment, the ones we took into account, so it's not a surprise from this point of view, but implementing these measures will not be a problem in terms of the 2018 deficit or budget," Misa said. 

Contrary to Misa's statements, Prime Minister Mihai Tudose said on Monday that the Government on Wednesday might not discuss the amendments to the Tax Code. 

Asked if switching the payment of social security contributions from employers to employees will be discussed at the government meeting on Wednesday, Tudose said: "It might not be Wednesday."