PM Orban: ANAF not being computerized, reason for lowest tax collection rate in EU

Prime Minister Ludovic Orban said on Thursday night for the B1 TV private broadcaster that Romania has the lowest tax and duties collection rate in the European Union, one of the reasons being that the computerization of the National Tax Administration Agency (ANAF) was not carried out, although all the companies were required to change their cash registers.

"I give the example once again, for all Romanians to know: the Ministry of Finance obliged companies to buy cash registers that have electronic data transmission and which were taken in the interest of the Government, of ANAF, in order to have a better collection, to have all the data about all the operations that are going on. Instead, they haven't acquired servers for some two years, if you can imagine. They forced people to change the cash registers, to switch to fiscal cash registers, whose objective was not in the interest of companies, but of ANAF and they did not purchase servers," Orban said.

He appreciated that this can be evidence that tax evasion is tolerated.

"It makes you think: isn't it clear proof of premeditation in terms of tolerating tax evasion and even encouraging tax evasion, because you didn't get your servers and all the necessary software?!" Orban added.

He said that the Finance minister, Florin Citu, is proposing a computerization project of ANAF to allow the procurement procedures to be carried out "at maximum speed".