Parliament passed the bill to amend and supplement a number of legal acts, whereby the fiscal and customs policy objectives for 2017 are announced, in the first reading on November 25, IPN reports.

Minister of Finance Octavian Armasu said the bill institutes a series of benefits for the people and the business community and defines a series of measures to consolidate the amounts collected into the state budget.

Thus, the base amount of income that is not subject to tax will rise from 29,640 lei in 2016 to 31,140 lei in 2017. An income tax of 7% will be imposed on incomes lower than 31,140 lei and a tax of 18% will be put on larger incomes. The personal exemption and the exemption for maintained persons were increased by adjusting them to the rate of inflation for 2017 forecast at 5%.

The business community will be stimulated by adjusting the administration period that can be different from the calendar year, refunding the VAT on services provided on a regular basis, putting a VAT of 8% on the production of biofuel used to produce heat and hot water. The tax concessions for IT companies were extended until 2020.

The document envisions an annual rise in the excise duties on tobacco products as of 2017 until 2019. The excise duties on oil products will also be increased, while those on alcoholic beverages will be adjusted to the rate of inflation for the next three years.

Head of the parliamentary commission for economy, budget and finance Stefan Creanga said the MPs can submit proposals over the bill by December 5 so that these could be examined and included in the bill for the second reading if they are appropriate.