“The tax is paid at the office of the notary public, at the time documents for the transfer of property are signed, and the amount is deposited by notaries directly to the financial administration. In order to limit the risks of tax evasion and to force sellers to declare the real amounts, the state decided several years ago to introduce a tax grid,” Miruna Popescu, of the National Union of Notaries Public, told Business Standard.
Due to the crisis, the prices of apartments plunged by 30-50 percent in 2009. However, the price grid, which is the basis for calculating the taxes, has not been amended. Since the beginning of this year, when the values contained in the price grid came to be much higher than the real value of a transaction, the National Union of Notaries Public notified the Ministry of Finance, requesting that the grid be adjusted to the market. “We were told that the legislation allows only one modification of the Fiscal Code per year. However, we understand that our amendments have been accepted, that the modifications to the Fiscal Code which we requested will be considered, and will probably go into effect early next year,” Popescu added.
The representative of the National Union of Public Notaries said that introducing this grid was a good idea, because the state was trying to prevent tax evasion on the real estate market, but the rigidity of the Fiscal Code is the reason why many clients have to pay more money than necessary.
“You have to consider the fact that a few years ago, in the period of the real estate boom, the grid was changed once a year, just like now, which was not in the state’s favour then, as prices rose by as much as 50 percent in that period,” Dragos Doros, Head of the Legislation and Direct Taxes Department within the Ministry of Public Finance, said.
