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The measure to tax microenterprises 1 percent of turnover is neutral for the time being, because one doesn't yet know on how many companies this will have a positive impact and on how many a negative one, president of the National Council of Small and Medium-sized Private Enterprises (CNIPMMR) Florin Jianu told a press conference on Monday.
He added that the next survey to be carried out by CNIPMMR will focus on two elements: the levy of a 1 percent tax on microenterprises with a turnover of up to one million euro and the increase of the minimum wage. Jianu said this approach is intended to steer clear of communication blunders like the government's backpedaling on switching all social security contributions to the employee, but first test the plans on hundreds or thousands of SMEs and poll them. The CNIPMMR head also argued that the transfer of the contributions from the employer to the employee will not result in a decrease of the net wage, because the companies are facing staff shortage.
"With regard to the transfer of the social security contributions from the employer to the employee, there is no country in the world where the contributions are only in the charge of the employee. Public slipups like those you've seen on the part of the Ministry of Finance that claimed there is a European directive they didn't know exactly how to define and what it referred to ... we, on the other hand, have identified that particular directive which clearly prohibits funds from the salary liabilities pool to be transferred to the employee," Jianu stressed.
He also referred to the split VAT, arguing that Bulgaria has tried a few years ago to introduce such a measure but gave it up because it proved unsustainable and would have gridlocked the economy, and that the UK discusses its enforcement, but only for online transactions. In Italy, the measure applies only to state contracts, and Poland too contemplated enforcing it but postponed it indefinitely.
