Bodu has different views than Fin Min on first license tax

BUCHAREST – Sebastian Bodu, the ex head of the National Agency for Fiscal Administration (ANAF), said that the Romanian public authorities from the Ministry of Public Finance knew the European Commission’s opinion about the first license tax from September 2006, but accepted the criticism. In an interview given for the Romanian daily “Evenimentul Zilei” Bodu said that Robert Verrue, the general director of the DG Taxud (EU’s general tax and customs department) warned the minister of Public Finances Sebastian Vladescu about the fact that the first license tax violates the EU laws regarding the licensing of vehicles. “You can win approximately one year and a half but I am positive that you will lose because you are not only violating the EU stipulations but also the jurisprudence regarding this matter,” said Verrue. Bodu said that the first license tax couldn’t be larger than the one applied for the cars produced in Romania, because it is not in compliance with the EU requirements. Reffering to the vice tax, Bodu said that he is the “first and most constant critic” of the tax because its introduction represented one of the most important factors that supported the increase of the fiscal evasion. “There are not estimates regarding the losses caused by this tax. All the signals indicate that the fiscal evasion increased because of this tax,” explained Bodu. When asked about the fact that he was part of the commission for the privatization of the Romanian Savings House (CEC), Bodu said that he believes it is normal for him to be paid because such a task is not part of his job. “Several times the meetings were held until 2-3 in the morning. We had to study mountains of documents,” said Bodu.

The ANAF official underlined that, if CEC would have been sold for a small sum the privatization commission would have been held responsible. Bodu believes that the sum offered for CEC was too small regarding the value of this institution . “We also took into account CEC’s sentimental value and not only its economic value. The representatives of the National Bank of Greece had two envelopes with offers: a larger financial offer, if OTP would of submitted an improved offer and a smaller financial offer, if they had no competition. I believe that the better offer they had shows that CEC can be sold for a better price,” said Bodu.

Diesel fuel excise duty could by reduced by a third

The excise duty on Diesel fuel used in agriculture could be reduced by one third in 2007, and the Ministry of Agriculture intends to grant the farmers a subsidy to cover the other two thirds of the duty, stated the Secretary General of the institution, Sorin Chelmu, quoted by Mediafax.

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