Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan declared that he does not use the ghișeul.ro application, answering a question related to the payment of taxes, in the context in which, from January 1, the government led by him increased local taxes.
Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan spoke on Saturday evening, during a show on Digi 24, about the increase in local taxes applied from January 1 to all natural persons, explaining that this measure, controversial and intensely contested, represents a necessary contribution to local budgets, in the context in which the Government no longer has the necessary funds to financially support town halls, as in previous years.
Asked if he paid his taxes for this year and if he uses the ghişeul.ro platform, the prime minister admitted that he did not install the application and that, until now, he has not paid his taxes to the state.
“I personally did not install it. Of course, where localities or local administrations did their job, they were quick and took their decisions. (…) I did not pay the tax. Those who pay faster have a discount depending on the locality. Some 4%, some 5%. Taxes for all natural persons in Romania increased on January 1. Why did we have to do this? On the one hand, these taxes are revenues for the local budget”, declared Ilie Bolojan.
He pointed out that the level of property taxes in Romania was far below the European average, which limited the ability of local administrations to finance essential investments.
“And we, to give you an idea, collected three times less as a share of our income compared to the countries of the European Union. And in the rural area we had a property tax of 100-150 lei, in the urban area of 200-250 lei”, he also said.
According to the prime minister, the property tax is, in essence, a direct contribution of citizens to the development of the communities in which they live.
“This tax is, in fact, the contribution of house and apartment owners to the local budget so that the respective municipality can create better conditions for them and their families. This means connection to water, sewage, asphalt, public lighting, gas, heating and so on.” the prime minister pointed out.
In the same context, he also explained why the Government can no longer continue the policy of massive transfers of funds to the municipalities, citing the high budget deficit and high loan costs.
“Given the deficits that Romania has, we can no longer transfer to the local authorities the amounts that we transferred in these years, because we no longer have this money. We were borrowing and paying enormous interest, which led us to the situation we are in”. stated Ilie Bolojan, emphasizing that, in the absence of these funds, the continuation of the investment projects started throughout the country, from road infrastructure to the modernization of schools, will increasingly depend on the local authorities’ own revenues.
