The Emergency Government Ordinance no. 53/2020 amending and supplementing certain measures implemented in the context of COVID was published in the Official Gazette of Romania.

A new series of urgent, exceptional measures in the social field were published in order to avoid long-term effects.

A new category of beneficiaries of the indemnities was introduced

• lawyers whose activity has been reduced as a result of the effects of the crisis, during the state of emergency, if the collections recorded during the month for which the indemnity is claimed were lower with at least 25% than the monthly average for 2019, but not exceeding the average gross salary. The indemnity is granted based on the sworn statement of the lawyer regarding the fulfillment of the conditions.

Clarifications regarding the tax treatment of the indemnities

• indemnities granted to individuals carrying out activities on the basis of civil law, intellectual property, are taxed with income tax, social contributions and health insurance contribution, save for the work insurance contribution.
• the computation of the tax obligations (income tax, social contributions and health insurance contribution) related to the monthly indemnities, except for the ones granted to individuals who have concluded individual labor agreements based on Law no. 1/2005, shall be performed by the individuals by applying the tax rates to the gross indemnity received.
• The tax liabilities related to the indemnities shall be declared by way of the Unique Tax Return related to 2020 which shall be submitted until March 15, 2021.

Clarifications regarding eligibility for other professionals

• Indemnities to be granted to other professionals as set forth by EGO no. 30/2020 do NOT apply to companies regulated by the Companies Law nor to the economic interest groups regulated by Law no. 161/2003 on some measures to ensure transparency in the exercise of public dignity, public office and in the business environment, the prevention and sanctioning of corruption.

Clarifications regarding the individuals earning pensions or indemnities for disability reasons

• Individuals earning pensions or indemnities for disability reasons are eligible for the above-mentioned indemnities.

Clarifications regarding enforcement measures

• during the state of emergency, enforcement measures are suspended or are not initiated;
• indemnities granted in the current context are not subject to forced execution measures; the suspension measures will end 60 days after the state of emergency ceased.

Clarifications regarding the deadline for submitting the documents in order to request the indemnity:

• in case of civil contracts, the deadline for submitting the documentation to claim for the indemnities related to March is extended by 5 working days, from the date of entry into force of this emergency ordinance (April 21, 2020);
• for lawyers, the deadline for submitting the documents in order to request the indemnity related to the first month in which the state of emergency was established is 10 working days starting with April 21, 2020, the date of entry into force of the Emergency government Ordinance;
• for indemnities related to April and the following months during the state of emergency period, the deadline for submitting the applications is until the 10th of the month following the month for which it is claimed.