The Senate’s budget and finance
\ncommittee has given green light to a bill to levy a 30% tax on special pensions
\namounting to between 7,000 lei, the equivalent in lei of 1,480 euros, and 10,000
\nlei, that is 2,115 euros. Pensions higher than 10,000 lei are to be subject to
\na 50% tax rate. This measure initially formed part of a package discussed during
\na budget adjustment made at the beginning of August. The initiator of the bill,
\nthe finance minister Eugen Teodorovici:<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Pensions below 2,000 lei are not
\nsubject to taxation, as stated in the government programme. A 10% tax rate is
\nlevied on pensions higher than 2,000 lei and we will propose that a 30% tax
\nrate be levied on pensions between 7,000 and 10,000 lei, on the amount in
\nexcess of 2,000, to avoid double taxation or overlapping.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
The finance minister has explained
\nthat where pensions are made up of different incomes, an individual declaration
\nis necessary to state the exact nature of each of these incomes. He has also
\nproposed an amendment to his own bill stating that the component of a pension
\nbased on the principle of contributivity should not be subject to taxation. The
\nbudget and finance committee also adopted a bill under which the pensions of
\nformer presidents of the country should be subject to the same tax rate system.
\n<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
The Liberal senator Florin Citu
\nproposed another amendment, rejected by the committee, that all special
\npensions in excess of 5,000 lei should be subject to a 90% tax rate. We must
\nshow tax payers acting in good faith and who pay their taxes and receive an
\naverage pension of 1,100 lei that we will no longer tolerate these special laws
\nthat have sprung up like mushrooms, he said. In his view, Teodorovici’s bill is
\na populist move ahead of the election campaign for the presidential elections
\nin November. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Eugen Teodorovici first spoke
\npublicly about the idea to levy taxes on special pensions in July, alongside
\nanother measure aimed at boosting budget revenues: restricting the number of
\nfree train journeys for students. As expected, the proposal was met with harsh
\ncriticism from those who benefit from special pensions, in particular
\nmagistrates, who said it infringes on the independence of the judiciary. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
The average pension in Romania at
\nthe end of July amounted to the equivalent in lei of around 251 euros. This
\nmakes Romanian pensioners among the poorest in the European Union, not to
\nmention that the constant rise in prices seen in recent years has eroded their
\npurchasing power even more. The pension point went up by 15% on the 1st
\nof September, a measures that benefits 5 million pensioners who receive public
\npensions. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Special pensions in excess of 7,000 lei may be subject to taxation according to draft legislation tabled by the Social Democrat finance minister Eugen Teodorivici.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":106,"featured_media":82920,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[37738],"tags":[32366,32466],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-82919","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-today-in-the-news","tag-pensions","tag-taxation"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n