The Small Business Association issued an open letter to Prime Minister Pavel Filip, asking him to intervene and cancel the legal provisions that ban, starting from 2017, running a business based on a patenta (small business license).
Eugen Roscovanu, the president of the Association, told a press conference at IPN that the members of the association demand the economic freedoms of small business to be respected. They want the business environment to be improved by weeding out corruption, respecting democratic principles in economic reforms, de-monopolizing the fields for small and medium businesses and reducing bureaucracy in regulatory institutions.
He said that patenta holders reject the authorities’ proposal for entrepreneurs to run their business as independent activities. “We heard from the Ministry of Finance about a bill meant to replace small trade based on patenta with some new formula. The document is allegedly meant to solve the problem, but it only complicates it”, said the association leader. He noted that the proposed formula for small trade, as an independent activity, will require not only registration with the tax body, but also notifying the local public authorities.
The bill cancels local taxes for small vendors who run their trade as an independent activity and, according to Roscovanu, this will lead to conflicts of interests with the local administration. “This ‘independent activity’ formula is absurd”, declared the SMA head.
He explained that wholesale and retail domestic trade has been decreasing since 2015 and this affects small vendors the most. “It is hard to accept the government’s ban on patenta-based trade when our economy is in crisis”, complained Roscovanu.
He says that small vendors are organizing protests throughout the country, demanding to be allowed to work legally, based on their patentas, but their voice isn’t heard. Roscovanu said that protests will continue and the next one is scheduled for September 7, in Stefan Voda.
