Romanian Dailyhttp://romaniandaily.ro/cat96284fresh business news about Romaniahttp://romaniandaily.ro/cat962842010-07-30T01:06:51+00:00Romanian DailyenGovernment Ordinance no. 92/2003 on Tax Procedure Code completedhttp://romaniandaily.ro/cat96284/art3936180498/ According to the amended version of the normative, the Romanian authorities in charge can request assistance from other member states for the recovery of State budget claims and the member states asked to provide assistance shall proceed to recovering the claims in conformity to their national legislation, just as they would do if their own claims were at stake. For the sake of mutuality, the normative settles the terms under which the Romanian authorities in charge grant assistance to other member states for the recovery of the same type of claims.

According to the Government, the new provisions will help improve the recovery of tax claims Romanian authorities should charge on non-residents and that cannot be recovered on Romania's territory, increasing efficiency in the administration of taxes, dues, contributions and other liabilities to the general aggregate budget. Other amendments to the Tax Procedure Code provide that the tax authorities shall assign a tax identification code to the individuals who perform independent economic activities, freelance professions or activities, in order to ensure the smooth exchange of information regarding the management of the community VAT, the exoneration from tax liabilities of the taxpayer who cannot meet his tax obligations due to an unforeseen event beyond his control (such as floods, catastrophes, earthquakes, fires). Under the new regulations, the taxpayer shall not be sanctioned for failure to fulfill his liabilities in situations beyond his control (force majeure).

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]]>2006-07-27T10:14:00+00:00Regulations&Law FirmsIulianBulandraForeign Workers Could be Posted for 3 Yearshttp://romaniandaily.ro/cat96284/art4085768099/The secondment may be extended to three years at the most because the limitation to 12 months (at present) of the period for which foreign nationals can be posted with Romanian employers harmed the implementation of the big-sized companies' projects with a view to fulfilling contract obligations, reads the MMSSF.

Given that, after Romania's EU membership, nationals of EU countries and of signatory countries of the European Economic Area Agreement, as well as their family members could have free access to the Romanian labour market, making room, in this way, for a discriminatory status compared to non-EU nationals, family members of the Romanian nationals, who have the possibility to work without the need for the extension of the work permit provided continuous and legal stay in Romania of at least five years, the draft ordinance proposes the extension of a similar regime to the two categories of foreigners by exemptingfrom the compulsoriness of a work permit for non-EU foreign citizens.

According to the Ministry of Labour, Social Solidarity and Family, the modification to the law on work permits is necessary for honouring the pledges made during the EU entry talks about the free movement of workers and services.

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]]>2006-07-26T09:25:00+00:00Regulations&Law FirmsIulianBulandraRomania Adopts Law on Int'l Trade Statistic Systemhttp://romaniandaily.ro/cat96284/art5171264268/  
Romania's forthcoming accession to the EU is to result in the modification of the current system of international trade statistics, based mainly on the information in the export and import customs declarations.
 
The elimination of some customs formalities for the commodities which are circulating in Romania and the EU member states makes necessary the organization and preparation of a statistic system of intra-EU trade (Intrastat), for Romania to be able to provide, after its EU entry, the statistic information requested by the European regulations in the field.

The Romanian National Institute of Statistics (INS) draws up, in cooperation with the Ministry of Public Finance, the commodities international trade statistics.

INS establishes the value thresholds for providing the Intrastat statistical information on the two flows, introductions and deliveries, and draws up the Intrastat statistical declaration.

The declaration is to be completed by the business operators, the reference interval being the month when the intra-EU trade operations are carried out.
 
The law is scheduled to come into force once Romania enters the EU.

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]]>2006-07-24T11:28:00+00:00Regulations&Law FirmsIulianBulandraLaw Market to Increase in Niche Segmentshttp://romaniandaily.ro/cat96284/art6762001279/  
Florentin Tuca, managing partner with Tuca Zbarcea & Associates, considers that after the accession the niche law will develop and a concentration of the specializations in the competition area, real estate law, environment law and international arbitrage is to be expected. "Step by step, the multidisciplinary approaches to the law aspects will be more and more numerous.

For instance, the legal assistance corroborated with the economic and strategic analysis on competition issues is a premiere in Romania," Tuca says.

In the opinion of Cristina Filip, a partner with Nestor Nestor Diculescu Kingston Petersen, an increase in the significance and volume of some law domains such as those related to labour relations and social security, environment protection and sustainable development, commercial practices and policies compatible with a normal competitive environment is to be expected.

Besides the specialization a significant increase is to be expected in the volume of the activities related to the funds management or securities for customers and in connection with a legal assistance and consultancy mandate.

Lawyer Valeriu Stoica appreciates that the country's integration with the EU will be marked by an increase in the foreign investments, which, on the business law market, will bring a larger number of customers assisted in daily activities, in merger operations and in corporate acquisitions as well as the development of the assistance activities in law fields such as intellectual property and competition.

The main law firms got better results in the first half of the year. In the estimations for this year, the managers of law firms predict some 15-30 percent increases in business.

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]]>2006-07-24T11:24:00+00:00Regulations&Law FirmsIulianBulandraTaxes in 2007http://romaniandaily.ro/cat96284/art9329068898/
The “Bible of the Economy” the Fiscal Code was promulgated last week by President Traian Basescu, its provisions remaining to be enforced as of January 1, 2007.

Approved during the first days of July by the plenum of Chamber of Deputies, the decisional Chamber, the Fiscal Code is unable to impose the extension of the flat single tax of 16 per cent, thought by the Executive as necessary for increasing the proceeds to the state budget. The fiscal provisions due to be enforced next year maintain the level of the flat single tax at 16 per cent, VAT at 19 per cent, in spite of the fact that the recommendations of the European officials were indicating the need to increase one of the main taxes.

In fact, Romania is one of the countries with the lowest revenues to the state budget, and the intention of the Romanian authorities is to increase the incomes to the state budget to over 30 per cent of GDP. The adjustment of the macro-economic imbalances, including by expanding the taxable base, is a sin-qua – non requirement for Romania, considering that at the time of accession, our budgetary deficit is 2.5 per cent of GDP. The limit of the budgetary deficit required by the EU standards is 3 per cent of GDP.

The alternative proposed by the Executive provided that the tax for the capital market is 16 per cent regardless the time during which they may be held. In spite of the fact that initially was among the most disputed measures of the Fiscal Code, the taxing system for certain categories of micro-enterprises shows relaxation. If the Senate proposed charging 1.5 per cent on the turnover, the Deputies voted that micro-enterprises would pay, as of January 1, 2007, 2 per cent tax on their turnover, and this will be raised to 2.5 per cent in 2008 and 3 per cent in 2009, on condition they are not active in management or consulting business. Currently, micro-enterprises may choose between having their turnover taxed by 3 per cent or their profit by 16 per cent. The Deputies maintained the provision according to which small businesses will pay a tax of 16 per cent on the profit if their turnover is in excess of EUR 100,000 during the year.

State Secretary in Ministry of European Integration, Leonard Orban, appreciated that the provision of the new Fiscal Code addressing second hand cars could be regarded as a breach of the EU treaty, which would mean “tough” financial sanctions into the court.

Postponing revenue taxation for agricultural activities has been unanimously agreed by lawmakers, so that the 2 per cent tax starts to apply as of 2008.

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]]>2006-07-17T07:01:00+00:00Regulations&Law FirmsIulianBulandraNew law on bankruptcy to come into force on July 21http://romaniandaily.ro/cat96284/art3842891836/ "The shortening of the insolvency procedure was the main issue taken into account. It used to take six months to open an insolvency procedure. From now on we will know immediately after submitting such an action if we open the bankruptcy procedure or open the general procedure that can lead to restructuring or to bankruptcy," chairman of the National Union of Experts in Reorganization and Liquidation (UNPRL) Arin Octav Stanescu said.

According to the new regulations, the bogus companies, companies which have no offices or papers, are to go directly bankrupt, a procedure that will end in a very short time. Creditors have a quite significant position due to the new insolvency procedure, this being one of the essential changes brought about by the new law.According to the UNPRL statistics they opened some 11,000 insolvency procedures in 2005, that is almost nothing as compared with the hundreds of thousands of companies registered with the Trade Register, Stanescu explained. From now on, a new faster procedure provided for in Law No 359/2004 will come into force. It will remove some 240,000 bogus companies from the market.

In Romania less than 5 percent of the companies go bankrupt, the level being much under that of other European states. According to Stanescu, in Romania there are approximately 2,000 experts in restructuring and liquidation with incomes totalling 650 billion old lei in 2005. The liquidators' fees range between 0 and hundreds of thousands of euros. Part of the fees is not cashed. For instance, from the Liquidatiion Fund, the experts should cash more than two million euros, this subject being currently under debate with ANAF chairman Sebastian Bodu too, after the Ministry of Finance asked for the liquidation with legal liquidators in the case of some 38,000 files.

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]]>2006-07-13T06:25:00+00:00Regulations&Law FirmsIulianBulandraLawyers expect large market growth after EU accession http://romaniandaily.ro/cat96284/art3898169936/
Last year the value of the law firm market was estimated at 100 million euros at the most. As there are no official statistics, individual estimates of law firms point to different levels, from 40 million to 100 million euros. This year is seen as a period of consolidation and diversification, but the moment of accession will be the green light for strong increases on the market, in the opinion of law firm representatives.

Growth will be seen especially in such segments as environment and competition, which are sensitive issues in the EU. "We expect a growth in importance and volume of judicial areas such as labor and social security, protection of the environment and sustainable development as well as policies compatible with a normal competitive environment," said Cristina Filip, partner with Nestor Nestor Diculescu Kingston Petersen (NNDKP).

Florentin Tuca, managing partner with Tuca Zbarcea & Asociatii, believes that after accession, niche fields will develop and the market will see specialization in the field of competition, real estate law, environmental law and international arbitrage. Another field in which lawyers will have to develop their expertise is communitarian law, Tuca added.
Florian Nitu, managing partner with Popovici& Asociatii, believes that beyond specialization large growth will be seen in fiduciary activities in which lawyers will be involved, meaning administering funds or securities for clients or mandates for legal consultancy that would include escrow services.

Sorin David, partner with D& B David si Baias, believes that the law firm market will begin a process of concentration after January 1, 2007 and that in the following 18 months at least two American or British law firms will enter the market. "A significant and accelerated increase of over 15 percent per year will be seen on the market of private transactions, meaning mergers and acquisitions in the real estate sector, as well as the market for consultancy services with an important component - that of judicial services co-financed by the EU," Sorin David believes.

On the other hand, Valeriu Stoica, senior partner with Stoica & Asociatii, estimates that EU accession will be marked by an increase in foreign investment, which will mean a higher number of clients assisted in current activities, in merger and corporate acquisitions as well as the development of assistance activity in law fields such as intellectual property and competition.
Gheorghe Musat, managing partner with Musat & Asociatii, expects many foreign investors to come to Romania and therefore lawyers to be increasingly solicited. "We will see an increase in competition. We expect some of the large international law firms to enter the Romanian market, opening local offices or merging with local companies," Musat believes. "Romanian companies will also expand their business abroad, as do Polish, Hungarian or Czech companies," he added. Some lawyers do not see the impact of EU accession being very large.

Doru Bostina, coordinating lawyer with Bostina & Asociatii, believes the impact will not be significant, as the local market is still too small for the large law firms in Europe. The main law firms obtained larger results in the first part of the year and most estimates point out to 15-30 percent increases by the end of the year.

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]]>2006-07-13T06:25:00+00:00Regulations&Law FirmsIulianBulandraConstructions banned in Mamaia http://romaniandaily.ro/cat96284/art4244366310/
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]]>2006-07-12T08:57:00+00:00Regulations&Law FirmsIulianBulandraCustoms tax modification for imported vehicleshttp://romaniandaily.ro/cat96284/art8711032486/
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]]>2006-07-10T21:08:00+00:00Regulations&Law FirmsIulianBulandraRegistry of Commerce stays with Justice Ministry http://romaniandaily.ro/cat96284/art2689612918/
The Constitutional Court ruled that the law infringed constitutional articles referring to organic laws.
The Registry of Commerce was transferred from the administration of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry to the Ministry of Justice at the end of 2002.

The rejected law would have established that starting January 1, 2007 the Registry of Commerce would be administered by the 42 chambers of commerce throughout the country instead of the Ministry of Justice. All databases, applications and goods also would have been transferred to the chambers.

In October last year Justice Minister Monica Macovei said such a measure was inappropriate, especially as Romania needed to align with a European directive on the matter, which specifies that the Registry of Commerce should not collect any taxes other than the actual costs of registering a company. "For now, especially as we need to conduct negotiations with the EU, it would be best for the registry to have a unitary organization as part of the Ministry of Justice," Macovei had said at the time, after talks with representatives of the European Commission.
Macovei welcomes the decision of the Constitutional Court, recalling that she had explained in Parliament that the law was organic and needed to be passed by a majority.

Initially, the proposal set forth by the Ministry of Justice was rejected and the deputies had voted on the project as if it had been an ordinary law, notwithstanding the provisions of the 76th article of the Romanian Constitution, which specifies that the approval of an organic law require the vote of a majority both in the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies. The decision is final and mandatory and will be communicated to the president of Romania.
The Romanian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCIR) will continue approaches for obtaining administration rights of the Registry of Commerce.

"CCIR will continue efforts to have the Registry of Commerce come back to the chamber system, where it naturally belongs, so it can become an instrument and a permanent source of information for businesspersons," a release of the chamber says. CCIR will soon draft a modern law project, in tune with European legislation in the field, which would create an optimal framework for the Romanian chamber system. The Registry of Commerce was transferred from the administration of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry to the Ministry of Justice at the end of 2002.

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