Tax evasion steals 200 M euros from state

Approx. 4,600 tax evasion cases were recorded January through June, in 2009, with 855,693,000 lei (more than 203 million euros) having been thus stolen from the state budget, the Minister of Administration and Interior Vice-Premier Dan Nica on Tuesday announced, at the meeting of the inter-ministerial committee on tax evasion.

'During the investigations the Police carried out with the ANAF, there were discovered the following: illegal deals with products made from counterfeit wine, counterfeit oil-based products, illegal business with grains, with bread, illegal business with vegetables and fruits, wood and tax evasion cases in commodities transportation,' Dan Nica said briefly.

While presenting the final figures January through June, he showed that there were registered 4,600 tax evasion cases, with 3,118 people having been inquired and a prejudice to the consolidated budget having been brought worth 855,693,000 lei.

In this context, he noticed how many were those who took advantage of the economic crisis in the country.

'The Police and the ANAF had a good cooperation. (...) The large number of crimes showed that in Romania, unfortunately, during such times of crisis, some try to take advantage of it. The Prosecutor's Office also cooperated very well, the same as the specialized structures of the DIICOT (Department to Counter International Organized Criminality and Terrorism), with important files having been successfully solved too,' Dan Nica said.

The Committee was led by Prime Minister Emil Boc and had as members representatives of the Agriculture, Labour, Health, Tourism, and Transport ministries. The Committee had its first meeting on Tuesday, focusing on fiscal evasion and on such legislative proposals to help eradicating the phenomenon.

agerpres.ro