The Government is ready to develop a set of measures to help out farmers, including one that would redirect VAT to the payment of salary taxes. This was stated by prime minister Ion Chicu after holding meetings on Monday with farmers’ representatives and the Working Group for overcoming the crisis in agriculture, IPN reports.
According to the prime minister, the VAT payments accumulated on farmers’ accounts could also be used to pay the land tax, which is due until September 30, in a total amount of 120 million lei.
The prime minister also says that he will propose to the Parliament to set a moratorium on fiscal inspections until the end of the year. Another proposal will be to extend interest subsidies to cover not just new farmers’ loans but also existing ones.
Following discussions that took place on Saturday at the Ministry of Agriculture, it has been agreed to simplify the regulation for the allocation of compensations for first-group grains. The simplified rules will be approved by the Government at its meeting on Wednesday . There are about 2,800 farmers that need these subsidies.
It has also been agreed, added Ion Chicu, to postpone by one year the payments that farmers owe for equipment bought under the state-operated Mecagro program, some 200 million lei in total.
Additionally, the Chamber of Commerce will be enabled to issue force majeure certificates which farmers could present to suppliers.
Also, says Ion Chicu, it is possible that starting October 3 the VAT rate will be reduced on supplies of agricultural inputs, so that the rate is levelled for both the inputs and agricultural production. This measure will be coordinated with the IMF.
The discussion with the four lawmakers on the Working Group for Overcoming the Agricultural Crisis addressed the issue of rescheduling farmers' loans owed to banking and non-banking institutions. Financial institutions will be asked to be lenient in rescheduling loans.
The prime minister also said that currently the state cannot allocate more than 1500 lei in subsidies per hectare, an amount that farmers find too small.
