The Management of Packaging and Packaging Waste

On 30 October 2015, the Law no. 249/2015 on the management of packaging and packaging waste was published and came into force. The legal act includes provisions on how to manage all the packaging entering the market, regardless of the material from which they are made, as well as the packaging waste, regardless of the method of generation, in order to prevent and reduce the environmental impact.

The law provides for both nationwide annual targets for the recovery of energy and recycling, and fines for collecting packaging waste, in the event that the collection is not done selectively.

The same law also brings about changes in terms of the obligation of keeping the original box in which a particular product has been delivered/bought. Thus, if the economic operator makes the exchange or repair of a product still under warranty conditional on the availability of the original packaging, the buyer can address the National Authority for Consumer Protection and the trader may be given a fine ranging from RON 15,000 to RON 25,000.

Amendments on the State Aid Schemes for Agriculture

Decision no. 880/2015 establishing a State aid scheme for reducing the excise duty on diesel used in agriculture includes provisions on the State aid scheme granted in agriculture, including:

• The maximum total amount of the State aid scheme for 2015-2020 is KRON 3.334.037,25 and is granted from the State budget;
• For the payment of the State aid in 2015 the sum of KRON 270.69,250 has been allocated.

The Ordinance came into force on 26 October 2015.

Amendments on Non-routine Activities performed by Day Labourers

Law no. 254/2015 introduces amendments on the non-routine activities performed by day labourers so, as of 6 November 2015, the fields from the Classification of activities of the national economy in which occasional unskilled work may be performed will be as follows:

• Agriculture, hunting and related services – Division 01;
• Forestry, except logging - Division 02;
• Fishing and aquaculture - Division 03;
• Collection, treatment and disposal of non-hazardous waste - Class 3821 and Class 3811;
• Wholesale of agricultural raw materials and live animals - Group 462;
• Organisation of conventions and trade shows - Group 823;
• Advertising - Group 731;
• Performing arts - Class 9001, Support activities to performing arts - Class 9002 and Operation of arts facilities - Class 9004;
• Research and experimental development on social sciences and humanities - Class 7220 (archaeological excavations);
• Landscape service activities - planting, caring for and maintenance of parks and gardens, except private residential facilities - Class 8130;
• Propagation of plants – growth of ornamental plants, including turf for transplantation, caring for/cleaning of trees, nursery activities, except forest trees - Class 0130;
• ABotanical and zoological gardens and nature reserves activities - Class 9104;
• Raising and reproduction of other animals - Class 0149;
• Hotels and other accommodation facilities - Division 55; Holiday and other short-stay accommodation - Class 5520 – children’s camps (organised by the Ministry of Youth and Sports, directly or through its subordinated units);
• Holiday and other short-stay accommodation - Class 5520 – lodges;
• Operation of sports facilities - Class 9311;
• Activities of sports clubs - Class 9312;
• Event catering activities - Division 5621.

This legal act also provides for the performance of activities by day labourers in public institutions authorised to conduct archaeological researches or in the county offices of soil and agrochemical studies.

The law stipulates that, in the absence of an agreement concluded between the beneficiary and the day labourer on the payment of the remuneration, the former is liable to pay a fine ranging from RON 1000 to RON 5000.

The law came into force on 6 November 2015.

The Obligation to use Electronic Cash Registers

Law no. 267/2015 approves the Government Emergency Ordinance no. 91 of 23 December 2014 amending and supplementing the Government Emergency Ordinance no. 28/1999 on the obligation of economic operators to use electronic cash registers.

Please note that the obligation to use electronic cash registers has appeared as a necessity to combat tax evasion, aiming to ensure better monitoring of the business of economic operators performing retail supplies of goods and services directly to the population and considering the fact that these situations affect the overall public interest.

The Indexed Value of Luncheon Vouchers

Order no. 2184/2015 establishes the sum of RON 9.41 as the nominal value of luncheon vouchers, for the second half of 2015, as of November.

The Order considers the provisions of Law no. 142/1998 on granting luncheon vouchers, as subsequently amended and supplemented, as well as the Government Emergency Ordinance no. 59/2015 regarding various financial and tax measures for implementing Law no. 348/2004 on domestic currency denomination.

The Establishment of Intrastat Thresholds for 2016

Order no. 501/2015 approves the thresholds for gathering statistical intra-Community goods trade information in 2016; so, the decision is to keep the same thresholds, i.e.:

• RON 900,000 for intra-Community shipments of goods;
• RON 500,000 for intra-Community introductions of goods.

The act requires economic operators who have carried out exchanges of goods with EU Member States in 2015, the annual value of which exceeds the intrastate thresholds set, to fill out and submit intrastate statements to the National Institute of Statistics as of January of 2016.

Economic operators exceeding the thresholds established in 2016 shall fill out and send the intrastate statements in the month in which the cumulative value since the beginning of 2015 exceeds the intrastate thresholds, separately for the two flows, i.e. shipments and introductions of goods, respectively.

The Procedure of Exemption from Health Insurance Contributions

The implementation of the Central Tax Committee Decision no. 2/2015 is determined by the Order of the President of N.A.F.A. no. 2963/2015 . The aforementioned Decision regulates the exemption from health insurance contribution for income derived from the rental of property of the following persons:

• Individuals, regardless of their nationality and stable domicile or residence, who hold social health insurance concluded in another EU or EEA or Swiss Confederation Member State or in states with which Romania has concluded bilateral social security agreements with provisions for the sickness & maternity insurance, under the domestic laws of those states, which is in effect in Romania, and who can prove the validity of the insurance;
• Individuals, regardless of their nationality, whose domicile or residence is in a state with which Romania has not concluded agreements on the social security systems or who do not benefit from the extension of the right of temporary stay in Romania for a period exceeding 90 days.

In view of an exemption from paying the health insurance contribution, the person concerned shall submit, to the competent body, Form 602 “Affidavit for exemption from the payment of the health insurance contribution of individuals who derive income from property rental”. The form shall be accompanied by supporting documents such as:

• A1 portable document;
• TR/R1 – form on the applicable law;
• PM/RO101 - Certificate on the applicable law;
• MD/RO101 – Certificate on the applicable law.

After analysing the aforementioned documentation, the tax authority shall decide whether to accept or to reject the application for exemption.

Regulations for the Cancellation of the Ancillary Obligations

The Order of the Minister of Public Finance no. 3831/2015 provides details on the procedure of granting the tax incentive in the Government Emergency Ordinance no. 44/2015 and determines the steps to go through and the competent tax bodies and related forms.

The following ancillary payment obligations may be subject to cancellation:

• Penalties for delay;
• A rate of 54.2% of the interest;
• A rate of 77.1% of the late payment interest.

The ancillary payment obligations are those related to:

• The main payment obligations outstanding as at 30 September 2015;
• The main payment obligations declared in addition by the taxpayer via the amending statement correcting obligations maturing prior to 30 September 2015;
• The main payment obligations with payment deadlines up to 30 November and settled by such date;
• The main payment obligations included in taxation decisions issued following a tax inspection in progress by the effective date of the Ordinance.

The procedure of granting the payment deferral:

• The taxpayers express the intention to benefit from the cancellation of the ancillary obligations by submitting a notice to the tax body registry;
• The notice shall be settled by the tax body within five business days from the date of the registration by the issue of a decision to postpone the payment of the ancillary obligations that may be the subject of cancellation; the notices submitted prior to the publication of the implementing rules shall be resolved within five days from the day of the issue of the rules;
• The notice shall include at least: the identification data of the taxpayer, the subject-matter of the notice (the intention to benefit from the Government Emergency Ordinance no. 44/2015), the date and the signature;
• Based on the notice, the tax body issues and communicates to the taxpayer the decision to postpone the payment of the ancillary obligations that may be subject to cancellation and, to credit institutions where the debtor has opened bank accounts, the letter of temporary suspension, whether total or partial, of the forced execution by attachment.

The procedure of granting the cancellation of the ancillary obligations:

• The cancellation of the ancillary obligations shall be requested by the taxpayers, including those who have submitted the notice, by submitting an application to the registry, after having fulfilled the eligibility conditions;
• Within five days of the date of registration of the application for cancellation, the tax body shall issue the decision on the ancillary payment obligations in view of the fulfilment by the taxpayer of the condition under article 1, paragraph (1)(c), of the Emergency Ordinance;
• The application for cancellation shall be settled within five days of the date of payment of a rate of 45.8% of the interests listed in the Decision of section b);
• The application for cancellation of the ancillary obligations includes: the identification data of the taxpayer, the subject-matter of the application (the requested tax incentives shall be specified expressly), the date and the signature;
• The taxpayers who have failed to notify the tax body may enjoy the cancellation of the obligations by paying the rate of interest not covered by the cancellation by using the payment record number;
• The taxpayers who are undergoing the forced execution proceedings must notify the tax body to be able to benefit from the cancellation of the ancillary obligations.