What wealth the Romanians hold in other countries / compliance with the VAT payment has worsened in 2023, an international report shows

The latest estimates of Eutax Observatory/Atlas of the Offshore World, 2024, show a very high heterogeneity within the EU states regarding the weight of the financial wealth held outside the state of residence, which can also give an indication on the magnitude of the tax evasion in this source.

In 2022, Romania, along with other states in the region, such as Slovenia, Croatia and Slovakia, present modest weight values ​​in the GDP of financial wealth held by offshore natural persons (about 5%), while for some states such as Greece, Bulgaria, Denmark or Ireland the indicator is at much higher comparative levels (over 20%).

Compared to the situation in 2013, for most of the analyzed states we notice the tendency to increase the weight in GDP of the financial wealth held by the natural persons outside the state of residence.

According to the same source, for Romania, the share in GDP of the financial assets held by the natural persons outside the state of residence was doubled during the return of the economy after the international financial crisis, up to about 6% in 2014 compared to the period prior to the crisis.

Romania is in the last place in the EU in terms of the extent to which public services are available online

The high degree of non-compliance with the payment of VAT can be closely related to the general state of the public infrastructure, including the digital one, Romania being in the last place between the EU states regarding the extent to which public services or information on public services are available online and through computer portals, Romania-the Euro Monitor area, published by the National Bank, shows.

During the period between 2018 and 2022, Romania presented the largest compliance deviation to the VAT payment in total tax obligations regarding the VAT within the EU states, which remains at a level of over 30%. For the year 2022, the results of the assessments indicating an indicator value of 30.6% (equivalent of
about 8.5 billion euros) in the case of Romania, while for the EU as a whole it is 7%. For the year 2023, the preliminary evaluations of the EC regarding Romania indicate a slight worsening of the indicator up to the level of 33.7%.

The fiscal behavior of the taxpayers is also influenced by the perceived level of the fiscal burden, the clarity of the communication of the fiscal authorities and the level of confidence in the authorities and the legal system in general.