Professor Alina Mungiu-Pippidi writes, in an opinion article for Hotnews, which are the three, concrete things, who must do so that the reform announced by Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan has long-term effects. Now, “the positive steps they take stop in the middle of the road,” she says.
The cut of public funds in the Romanian state is like the allocation of public funds – a free struggle in which who has bigger muscles or connections with the party with muscles is better.
That is why no intervention of this kind, even if it can bring necessary corrections in the short term, it is not a reform in itself, if we do not want to increase our interests just stabilized after the elections.
If a drunkard falls on the road and is pulled out of the car, does not mean that it is reformed. He needs to be disobedy.
Otherwise, although indispensable in the short term, the Bolojan-Anastasiu reform does not serve a great deal in the long term. And the positive steps they make stop halfway.
However, some of the criticisms I take are unjustified. After all, the dividends were lined up with the unique share, but they were low that they had the shareholders. Now they are just brought where they were.
And if you opt to keep the unique income quota (favoring those with good income) to the detriment of the progressive one (disadvantage the poor), at least align the unique quota. At 16%. Otherwise you will only create legal avoidance strategies, the world will avoid having dividends and increasing their salaries, etc.
Here are three things that need to be done, which are not punctual, are general, are “disallowing”.
That is, the steps to create an objective process of fiscal rationalization.
1. Tax transparency
There is no reform without transparency, and Romania has for ten years the budget transparency index at 8.3, after in the previous decade it was approaching the maximum ten.
The name that is thrown to us daily are like the bones that throw themselves the pack of dogs.
What to do:
- Lists of taxes on taxes and public/private sector to be displayed.
The big gap vva is not a black hole. It is a list of names of public and private companies that the state has and not publish, companies from which it has to collect and does not. Companies to which the state has reimbursed. Fraud is not the general rule, the collection deficit is the problem. Publish who you receive, and from whom you do not collect and whom you reimburse and make you, academics a quick algorithm to catch who is evading.
There is no need for CSAT, because we are not Pakistan. Announce a research program on VAT, remove it for international auction and in six months guaranteed orders. And in the meantime slower with the scandal that is stolen, that you give votes to gold. CFR does not steal, neither TVR nor other big debtors. They don't pay on the face.
- Salaries in state -owned companies can all be published, as well as allowances, etc.
Immediately, those interpretations can be given to the Law for the protection of personal data that had to be long to make these data that were 20 years ago using Law 544.
- Who are Rapps customers? Until tomorrow their list should be public!
- Do we start the debate with the publication by ANAF- as in Finland- the annual income of all, as well as the amount charged?
I see that there are people who would agree, provided they will apply to everyone. Do we want to end with tax evasion or only daily, like bitch, to devour each more to fall from the table?
2. Eliminating liquid money
There is no performance state without surface economy. After all, it's also about transparency. The use of the use of liquid money must be restricted. Many example, the most successful in Uruguay, see here and here.
The state to prohibit cash payments, ANAF to give everyone under the signature, and the tax is paid automatically. Its digitized accounting, we have an e-invoice, from now on we can rationalize the perfect state. If we want.
3. Eliminating privileges by taxation
There is no state reform without equal treatment. However, low VAT in Horeca shows exactly the limits of the reformism of this government. Generally differentiated VAT does not make sense, we must protect the poor, not the industries, these are masked subsidies. We protect importers of food and patrons of luxury restaurants, but we cut from health. No one will thank the Government for austerity, that it has no reason under these conditions. The introduction of the CAS at large pensions is another aberration, it had to be introduced to all, if those in the government believe that proportionality, and not progressivity is good then the same rule will be at pensions, and salaries. Special pensions can be charged in a constitutional way if a universal rule is applied- otherwise not.
At least let's get back to transparency 20 years ago
In order not to hear that these are sublime, but inapplicable ideas, import from my colleague Cristian Ghingheș this note regarding tax transparency: how did the secret debts become, when 20 years ago I managed to make them public?
Fiscal Secret (Fiscal Procedure Code) stipulates that:
(1) The personnel within the fiscal body are obliged to keep the secret about the information that he became aware of as a result of the exercise of the duties.
(2) In the category of information of the nature of those considered to be tax secret, the data regarding the taxpayer/payer, such as: identification data, nature and amount of tax obligations, nature, source and amount of income, nature, source, payments, accounts, rolling, cash transfers, hips, collections, deductions, loans obtained from statements or documents presented by the taxpayer/payer or third parties.
(7) It is allowed to transmit information of fiscal in situations other than those provided in par. (3), under the conditions in which it is ensured that from these does not appear the identity of any natural, legal person or an entity without legal personality.
(9) The procedure for public knowledge of the information held by the central fiscal body is approved by order of the ANAF president, and the procedure for public knowledge of the information held by the local fiscal body is approved by order of the Minister of Regional Development and Public Administration, with the opinion of the Ministry of Public Finance.
But what to see, this procedure was not created. And it is best to change by emergency ordinance the Fiscal Code and to return to transparency. If not by Finnish model, at least I had succeeded 20 years ago.
