AUR announces that it will appeal in court the decisions regarding the tax increase. “Romanians are illegally and disproportionately burdened with property and car taxes”

AUR announced on Monday, January 5, that it will challenge in court the decisions of the local councils by which property and car taxes are increased.

AUR is attacking in court the decisions of the local councils by which the taxes are increased/PHOTO: Shutterstock

“The government led by Ilie Bolojan implemented a new form of legal fiscal engineering, through which Romanians are illegally and disproportionately burdened with taxes on property and cars.

In reality, we are witnessing a deeply flawed normative construction, which raises serious problems of constitutionality, European law and respect for the fundamental principles of taxation“, it is stated in a press release sent by the party, writes Agerpres.

According to the quoted source, local taxes on automobiles increased not only directly, but also through the introduction of an additional component presented as “penalty for pollution”.

“This component applies regardless of whether the vehicle is used or not, including when the car is in the garage. We are thus facing a double taxation for the same generating fact, namely pollution, which is inadmissible. Moreover, this tax has the nature of a sanction, and in fiscal and criminal law it is prohibited to impose double or multiple sanctions for the same deed.

The application of a “penalty for pollution” in the absence of any effective use of the vehicle flagrantly violates the principles of proportionality and predictability of the law, as enshrined in the jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights and the Court of Justice of the European Union.

A norm that violates these principles is not a law in the sense of the European Convention of Human Rights and must be removed from application, based on art. 20 para. (2) and art. 148 para. (2) from the Constitution of Romania“, claim those from AUR.

They state that Romanians already pay for pollution through the excise tax included in the fuel price.

“From an average price of approximately 7.5 lei per liter, no less than 3 lei is the excise tax, and together with VAT, more than half of the fuel price goes to the state. In addition, for older cars, the pollution tax was also paid at the time of purchase, later declared illegal by the CJEU.

Thus, we have an almost unique case in the European Union of triple sanctioning for the same alleged act: pollution“, the press release states.

Also, in parallel, local taxes on real estate properties have been significantly increased since January 1, adds the quoted source.

“For private residences, the increases reach up to 80%, there are numerous cases where taxes have doubled or even tripled. For SMEs, the increases are up to ten times higher. These measures represent a direct attack on the Romanian economic environment and create the premises for bankruptcies in the chain. The situation is further aggravated by the fact that, from January 1, 2026, the collection of these local taxes has been transferred to ANAF.

It is clear from the public statements of some mayors that the town halls no longer control the collection of these revenues, the central state being the one that decides when and under what conditions the amounts are transferred to the local authorities. This practice empties the local autonomy enshrined in the Constitution and violates the Law on Local Public Finances, the Fiscal Code, as well as the principle of fair placement of fiscal burdens.

In order to come to the support of the Romanians and to stop the aberrations imposed with the permission of the Bolojan government, the local elected AUR will attack in court the decisions of the Local Councils by which the taxes on property and cars are increased, for all the reasons of illegality and unconstitutionality exposed”transmits AUR in the press release.

Package 2 of measures entered into force

Fees and taxes will rise sharply in 2026, after the Constitutional Court rejected the AUR's objection, so the 2nd package of fiscal measures already undertaken by the Government will enter into force on January 1.

The 2nd package of measures, assumed by the Executive and considered constitutional by the CCR, provides for the increase of local taxes for all forms of property owned by natural persons – cars, homes or land, but also the increase of some taxes and fees that concern the business environment.

According to the document, the housing tax was to increase significantly from January 1, by almost 80%. For a three-room apartment in Bucharest for which the tax this year was 198 lei, the owner will pay 355 lei in 2026.

Specifically, the bill proposed updating the taxable values ​​from the Fiscal Code by 2.68 times, regardless of the type of building (concrete frames, wood, etc.). The values ​​provided now are those of 2015, but have been updated with inflation in the meantime.