ANIS and 138 other IT companies in Romania ask the Government not to adopt tax measures that would affect over 80% of IT engineers.
The signatories of the memorandum say that they have drawn attention to both the short time for adjusting spending and salaries, as well as the threshold which essentially will affect more than 80% of the industry’s employees at the national level.
What ANIS also says:
The companies and associations that signed have together over 31,000 employees and a turnover of over 3.4 billion euros. Startups, small, medium and large companies, local and international, service and product companies have joined this solidarity action, which reflects the unanimous and unambiguous opinion of the industry on the negative impact of the measures being promoted.
Romania, unlike other states in the region, currently has a policy based on a single measure to support the industry, but a measure that has been proven to be very efficient and which has created a regional technology hub and has kept highly specialized employees in the country, helping the industry to be competitive in the region and to have an accelerated growth, about 3 times higher than the growth rate of the national economy. This development is especially important in the coming period, when Romania should accelerate the reduction of the gaps with developed economies, through massive digitization projects.
In the context of the low demand at the global level, Romania is in a position to signal to current and potential international investors that confidence in fiscal stability in Romania is low, and the competitiveness of the market in the region is not supported by government policies.
The IT industry in Romania:
- is one of the largest contributors to national economic growth, in 2022 out of the 4.8% GDP growth, around 1.3% came from the IT industry
- is the second largest exporter in the services sector
- is an important contributor to the state budget, IT employees paying annually around 10 billion lei in contributions to social and health budgets, 10 times higher than the total value of the tax break they benefit from
- the industry is in the top 5 VAT payers
IT employees support by spending at least an equal number (10 to 10.5) jobs in other sectors of the national economy.
The signatories ask the Government to conduct in-depth consultations with the industry through which to identify ways to increase government revenues without affecting the competitiveness of the industry.
At the same time, through this Memorandum, the IT industry asks the Government to maintain the facilities, an action that will send a clear and unambiguous signal of support for the IT industry as a strategic industry. The facilities for the IT industry still have a strong effect and generate continued growth in GDP, by increasing the tax base.
In the event that the Government decides to change the tax regime applicable to IT industry employees, the signatories ask that this action be implemented gradually. The Fiscal Code provides for a minimum of 6 months for the implementation of new taxes to allow companies to adjust their budgets on the basis of which they operate.
Too short implementation deadlines will put Romanian companies in difficulty, which cannot easily adapt to such sudden policy changes. The World Bank Report on the Romanian tax system mentions very clearly – taking into account the calendar agreed within the PNRR – that a possible gradual reduction of tax breaks in the economy should be implemented between 1 January 2025 and 1 January 2028, giving companies time to make the necessary adjustments.
