Yevhen Teodorivici, a former senator and finance minister, says he will return to the system. “I’m more confident that I’ll be back in the system than I am living for tomorrow. I do not know when and in what order: either the president of the state or the prime minister. I don’t know, that’s my only dilemma, but I’m going to do it,” he said at an event organized by the Foundation for the Defense of Citizens Against State Abuse (FACIAS).

He also said that in 2015, when he was Minister of Finance (he did not mean 2018-2019), he achieved the highest revenues that Romania has had since the revolution: 33% (of GDP).

“This is a record. Today, if you tell someone 33%, they scold you. I must also tell you what the secret of the fire was. Not necessarily an approach from the Finance side, but previous work from the Ministry of European funds. This brought record revenues to the state budget,” Teodorovych explained.

According to him, whoever manages the Ministry of Finance needs to learn to listen to those he wants to regulate.

Abolition of VAT and introduction of Ceausescu’s tax

He also presented an idea, according to which he proposes to abolish VAT, but replace it with a tax from the Ceausescu era.

“Someone from finance will tell you that the Directive does not allow us. During the time of Ceausescu, I didn’t really understand those times, I was quite young, there was a sales tax (SST). I’m not nostalgic, I don’t have a business, but why do I need VAT today? I cannot lower the VAT below 15% because the Directive does not allow me to. Ideally! We’re putting it this way: We’re abolishing the new VAT as a country, but keeping the tax. We put this ICM. We leave it lower, by 10%. In order to be able to keep 10%, I give up the idea of ​​VAT,” explained the ex-minister of finance.

According to him, the European Commission will say: “Wait, why?”

“I say to them, I am in no way influencing your calculations of me as to what this tax means. I’m somewhere down there today. What is the average European level of VAT collection? For me, you calculate in the budget in the corresponding line an amount equal to the average European indicator, for which I have a VAT collection in the economy. So you refuse 19%, you put 10%, but you tax everything that means movement, like in those days,” says Teodorovych.

This new tax would be paid by the population.

“Cancel all deductions. What is VAT? With what VAT deduction? Let’s go, look at the brands: panties from Zara, tops from I don’t know where. Let’s end this nonsense,” he added.

In his opinion, this way evasion will disappear.

“When I reduced the VAT to 19% from 24% in 2015, all experts accused me that the country is full of specialists in everything: sir, you will put the country’s budget on the fence, I will not. know what impact it will have. It was about 3 billion lei in 6 months. The impact was not negative. It was a plus,” he explained.

According to him, we have 1.7 million income tax payers, but a maximum of 50,000 companies bring 97-98% of revenues to the state budget.