The minimal gross wage has been increased to 700 lei starting the 1st of January.

According to the H.G. no. 1225/2011, starting with 01.01.2012 the minimum ensured gross wage per country is established to 700 lei/month compared to 670 lei/month as it used to be by the end of 2011.

The amount of 700lei/month is being established for a full time schedule of 169,33 hours average per month in 2012 which represents 4.13 lei/hour.

An individual contract termination with a salary below the one established as the minimal gross wage per country will be considered as minor offence and will be sanctioned according to the law with a fee from 1.000 lei to 2.000 lei.

Therefore, according to the new purview, the minimum gross wage per country is 700 lei for an uqualified worker.

H.G.1225/2011 for establishing the minimum gross wage per country was published in Monitorul Oficial of 14 December 2011.

Every beginning of the year comes with a series of questions regarding the reporting of the financial situation of the last year. In the following article, we will try to give an answer to some of the frequently asked questions on this matter, with reference to the 2011 financial year.

When do we submit Declaration 101 in 2012?

According to Ordonance nr. 2/25^th of January 2012 regarding modification and completion of OG 92/2003 regarding Fiscal Procedure Code, annual declaration of income tax (tax on profit) for 2011 will be submitted, with the proper authorities, until March 25th, except non-profit organizations and companies with their majority of income based on cereal culture and technical plants, tree and vine farming, which submit their form up to 25^th of february 2012.

During the same year, the Romanian Government publishes a new order by introducing a new procedure for registration in VAT […]

Ascent Group continues its expansion plans by opening a new office in Romania, in Sibiu.

Ascent Group’s office in Sibiu will offer clients all types of services the consulting group Ascent is offering, but also aims to become a catalyst for enhancing business relations between the central part of Romania and other countries in the region.

Not last, Sibiu office aims to provide support to all foreign investors intending to start a business in Transylvania.

The office in Sibiu is the 7th office opened by Ascent Group, after those in Bucharest, Arad, Chisinau, Limassol, Sofia and Belgrade.

The contact details where you can find our new office are:

Ascent Group Sibiu
Revolution street no. 1, apt. 15
Tel: +40 269 211090
fax: +40 269 211722

We look forward to see you in Sibiu!

Prin intermediul HG nr. 500/2011, noua variantă a Registrului General de Evidenţă a Salariaţilor a fost publicată în Monitorul Oficial, […]

As a result to the public consultations, the Labour Inspection provides to the employers the new version of the IT application Revisal for establisment and completation of the evidence register of the employees in the electronic format, updated in accordance with the Government Decision no. 500/2011:

• Revisal 5.0.6 (for Windows XP/ Vista/ 7)
• Installation and use guide (Pdf format- Portable Document Format)

The new format of the Revisal application allows:

Recently, through the ANAF Order no. 3.253/2011 for the approval of issued application forms models OG no. 30/2011, were reglemented forms of delayed cancellation of penalties for companies which pay their debts until the end of the year.

Briefly, the fiscal facilities are granted for the fiscal obligations related fittings main residual fiscal obligations at 31 August 2011. Penalties of delaying are being cancelled or reduced as follows:

People who choose to work abroad usually use the services of companies that provide mediation services and job placement abroad, as they have don’t have a firm offer of work abroad or may not relate directly to potential employers abroad.

In Romania, private activity of mediation and work placement abroad is strictly regulated by law and companies that provide mediation services must meet certain conditions to carry out this work, namely:

Government approved two ordinances which amend the Tax Code and the Tax Procedure Code, designed to help companies during the current crisis.

The main changes are:

Early summer marked a change in the Ascent Group team. Thus, from the 1st of May, the new HR manager of Ascent Group in Romania is Ramona Bosînceanu.
Ramona is an alumnus of the Economics Faculty of the Aurel Vlaicu University in Arad, and of a Master program in Human Resources Management. Over the years, Ramona enriched her knowledge by attending numerous courses and specializations in the field of human resources.
Ramona has 9 years of experiences in the field of human resources, of which 3 years as a human resources specialist at Ascent Group. During this period she was involved in many projects of personal recruitment and executive search, personnel administration and payroll, personal assessment, restructuring of enterprises, collective negotiations and training.

In the Official Gazette, Part I, no. 0225 of 31 March 2011, Law 40/2011, for amending and supplementing Law no. 53/2003 – Labor Code, was published.

Amendments to the Labor Code are as follows:

1. Article 1 – (1) ‘This code regulates the employment relationship”, as compared to “implements all individual and collective labor relations.”

2. 16 – (2) Brings the obvious completion “Before entering the service, the individual employment contract shall be entered in the register of employee records, which is transmitted to the Territorial Labor Inspectorate” electronically.
If before the employer had to register the contract with the Labor Inspectorate within 20 days and then to hand the employee a copy of it, article 16 – (3) comes with completion “The employer is obliged, before commencement of work, to hand the employee a copy of the employment contract.”

Young entrepreneur, a new form of SRL

In the Official Gazzete of Romania nr. 103/09.02.2011 was published the Government Emergency Ordinance no. 6/02.02.2011 to stimulate the establishment and development of micro enterprises by young entrepreneurs.

Intrested persons, who wish to benefit from the Program to stimulate creation and development of micro enterprises by young entrepreneurs, may require registration with the Trade Registry within whose territorial jurisdiction the head office.

Program beneficiaries covered by this emergency ordinance, called young trader, is a major individual who meets the following conditions:

On 30^th of December 2010 the Romanian Government introduced through the O.U. no. 117/2010 the possibility to return to the status of microcompany.

In the understanding of this ordinance, the microcompany is a legal entity that at 31^st of December 2010 meets ALL the following conditions:

1. has incomes other than those obtained from banking, insurance, reinsurance, capital markets (except the intermediary in these areas), gambling, consultancy and management.
2. has minimum 1 and maximum 9 employees
3. achieved revenues that did not exceed the equivalent in lei of 100.000 EUR
4. the registered capital is held by persons, other than state and local authorities

On 30^th of December 2010 the Romanian Government introduced through the O.U. no. 117/2010 the possibility to return to the status of microcompany.

Starting with 1^st of January 2011 the minimum gross salary guaranteed payment is set at 670 lei per month according to H.G. 11931/2010, compared with 600 lei as it was at the end of 2010.

The amount of 670 lei is set for a full-time working schedule of 170 hours per month, representing 3.94 lei/hour. The staff compliance with a salary below the minimum gross salary is considered to be a contravention and is punishable by law with a fine of 1.000 lei up to 2.000 lei.

Therefore according with the new provisions, the minimum gross salary is 670 lei for an unqualified worker, a minimum gross salary of 804 lei for a qualified worker, and for the personnel employed in positions that require higher education will be of 1340 lei.

The H.G. 1193/2010 that enables the minimum gross salary guaranteed payment was published in the Official Gazette, Part I no. 824 from 9 December 2010.

During the last days of 2010, were published in the Official Gazette 891/30.12.2010 important changes of the Fiscal Code and of the Regulations for the application of the Fiscal Code, but also of the social insurance legislation and the Fiscal Procedure Code. The governmental decree that stipulates these changes is OUG 117 for the amendment and completition of Law no. 571/2003 regarding the Fiscal Code and reglementation of some financial and fiscal measures.

Amendments to the Fiscal Code relates primarily to: tax, income tax on small companies, VAT, income tax, excise duties, social contributions. Here are the main changes occurring in each of these areas:

Based on the Romanian Government’s representatives, starting with October 1st, the minimum tax will be eliminated. The minimum tax was introduced at 1^st of May 2009, together with other fiscal measures aimed to diminish the effects of the economic crisis, but finally, their effects were exactly the opposite.

As a result of the minimum tax’s elimination, the companies will pay between the 1st of October and the 31st of December 2010 the profit tax of 16%.

The last deadline for the minimum tax (the flat tax) will be the 25th of October, for the 3rd quarter of 2010. Starting with the 25th of February 2011, the companies will pay the profit tax for the 4th quarter of 2010, accordingly with the calculation norms existing before the introduction of the minimum tax.

Starting July 1^st 2010, new tax and fiscal regulations are applied in Romania, due to the Emergency Ordinance 58 from June 26^th 2010, that will affect all sectors of the national economy.

We briefly present the changes brought by this ordinance:

Profit Tax

Article 32 of the Fiscal Code is amended and has the following content:

“Art.32 Any loss realized by permanent headquarters situated in other states other than Member States of the European Union / European Association of Free Trade or which are located in a state with which Romania has concluded a double taxation convention is deductible only from the income earned by that permanent headquarters.

One year and a half ago the Romanian Government announced the first set of anti-crisis measures. I’ve considered them wrong and I estimated their effects will be opposite and will deepen the crisis, respectively I wrote several articles about it at that time.

Government’s Emergency Ordinance no. 54/23.06.2010 brings news also related to the acti vity of the Trade Registry. It amendes other regulations, among which the Law 31/1990 on copanies, republished in the Official Gazette, Part I, no. 1066 from November 17^th, 2004, which is modified and completed as it follows:

On June 23^rd 2010, the Emergency Ordinance no 54/2010 has been adopted, stipulating some measures to fight against tax evasion, ordinance that brings amendments to the Fiscal Code in force. The Ordinance was published in the Official Gazette no. 421 of June 23^rd, 2010.

The stated purpose for these changes is the registration and removal from the taxpayers records of those who are carrying out Intra Community trade particularly Intra Community acquisitions of goods, to reduce tax evasion on VAT.

Thus, beginning with August 1^st, 2010, the National Tax Administration Agency sets up and organizes the Register of Intra Community Operators that includes all taxable persons and non-taxable legal entities carrying out intra community operations, such as :

As by the application rules of the Romanian Tax Code, the companies founded in 2010 pay income tax but do not pay the minimum tax.

This provision is included in art.11^6 of the Implementing Rules of the Tax Code for Article 18:

“11^6. Taxpayers established during the year are not entering under the provisions of Art. 18 para. (2) for the year wehen they are registered at the Trade Registry, but they are required to determine the income tax as by the provisions of Title II “Tax profits” of the Tax Code.”

Starting this month you can also follow un on Twitter! Ascent Group‘s Twitter account is @ascent_eu.

Connect with us and you will receive updated information about legal, fiscal and business environment news, but also information related to the events organised by us or our partners.

In the current European context, the evolution of unemployment rate is particularly important for major investments as well as for small and medium sized enterprises. Forecasts are bleak as possible : “I think unemployment rate did not reach yet its highest rate, but this will happen in 2010, in the first or second quarter. I do not think we will reach a rate of 10% but this is my opinion, “said the economist of the World Bank, Catalin Pauna.

Here we are in the second quarter of 2010 and taking into consideration the overview of the first quarter of this year we can say that the forecasts are not far from being fulfilled. If the unemployment rate in Romania for the last quarter of 2009 was 7.5%, in the first quarter of 2010 it reached 8.3% in comparison to 5.6% in the same period of last year.

This applies not only to Romania, the same upward trend being valid for Bulgaria too, another country in the region.

Romanian Senate approved in March 2010 the Law stipulating that corporate taxpayers will have the possibility to pay VAT resulting from the issuing of the invoice to customers within 30 days from receipt of the amounts and not until the 25th of the month following the month in which the invoice was issued.

This amendment is contrary to the European Directive 112/2006, which states as a general rule that the payment liability appears at the time of the delivery of goods, at the date of services provisioning and on the date of receipt of advance payments before delivery or performance.

However, notwithstanding the general rule regarding the generator event and VAT payment, at art. 66 from the European Directive 112, there is stated that EU Member States may stipulate that VAT becomes chargeable for certain transactions or certain categories of taxable persons, the latest at the payment date.