The draft law on some fiscal and budgetary measures to ensure the financial sustainability of Romania in the long term contains provisions that jeopardize the ability of energy suppliers to finance capping schemes, a new tax decisively affecting the available financial resources, the representatives of the Federation of Associations of Utility Companies from Energy.

“The document published by the Ministry of Finance regarding the new taxes applied to companies on turnover, at a first analysis, contains provisions that seriously endanger the ability of suppliers to finance capping schemes and, respectively, all payments in the chain for distribution, transport and production. The suppliers pre-finance these schemes and later recover, with delay, the money owed by the authorities for capping prices, a situation that led to loans to support them. A new tax would decisively affect the available financial resources”, they said, according to Agerpres.

At the same time, the ACUE representatives added, for the distribution activity a new turnover tax, given that the distributors’ incomes are regulated and a monopoly tax is already paid, and the recovery of the additional costs recorded in the context of the energy crisis has been postponed, it affects major possibility for them to invest in the distribution networks, which are in vital need of transformation.

“ACUE experts will make a detailed analysis, which we will present to the Government, regarding the direct and indirect impact on energy consumers”, the cited source emphasized.

The Ministry of Finance published on Tuesday the draft law on some fiscal and budgetary measures to ensure Romania’s long-term financial sustainability.

The normative act introduces, starting next year, a minimum tax of 1% on turnover for companies with a turnover of over 50 million euros and which determines a profit tax lower than the minimum tax on turnover.

“A minimum turnover tax is established to strengthen fiscal discipline to ensure a minimum contribution owed by a taxpayer paying profit tax for the situation where the profit tax, determined on the basis of the general provisions of title II of the Fiscal Code, is lower than the amount of the minimum turnover tax. This is due, in the situation where the taxpayer registers in the previous year a turnover of over 50,000,000 euros, and which in the calculation year determines a profit tax, accumulated from the beginning of the tax year/amended tax year to the end of the quarter/calculation year, lower than the minimum turnover tax The rules are also established for the case where the cumulative tax result at the end of the quarter/calculation year is a tax loss or taxable profit but does not owe profit tax because it is in the tax loss recovery period,” the document states.