PSD leader Marcel Čolacu cites communism as an argument for raising property taxes, arguing that people can no longer be taxed in the same way: “We have to understand that communism is gone, it’s gone from Romania.”

Cholaku said that through decentralization, local governments would decide whether to raise these taxes, while the Ministry of Finance would develop the rules for implementation.

• “The associations of municipalities, cities said that since the digitization was not completed, this notary grid could not be applied, and then the decision was made to leave it, to decentralize it to the local authorities.
• We talk about decentralization, when we do it, we step back and criticize,” Marcel Čolaku said of the property tax hike.

He also said that Romania has the lowest property tax revenue in the EU, below 2%, compared to the European average of 4.6%.

“We have to understand that Communism is gone, it’s gone from Romania, we can no longer tax people in the same way, on buildings located in other places, in other counties,” Čolaku said.

Two examples: an apartment in Bucharest and a house in Cluj

Amendments to the decree on raising taxes, including property tax, can be made in the parliament. Therefore, it is possible that from January 1, 2023, the taxable value will increase by approximately 50%.

Adrian Vascu, a senior partner at Veridio and former president of ANEVAR, provided a brief analysis of the proposal on his website.

• Example 1: The apartment is located in Bucharest, floor area A, floor 3, year of construction 1950, area 99.71 square meters.
• The new taxable value will result in approx. 307,317 lei, which, if the tax rate is maintained at 0.1%, will result in the amount of tax next year being 307 lei compared to 204 lei this year.
• example 2: The house, located in Cluj-Napoca, with an area of ​​295 square meters and a plot of land of 800 square meters, zone C, taxable value as of December 31, 2021 – 479,000 lei and an annual tax of 958 lei.

The new taxable value will result in approx. 718,500 lei, which, if the tax rate is maintained at 0.2%, will result in a tax amount of 1,437 lei next year compared to 958 lei this year.

Adrian Vascu also says that if the level of tax rates is changed, that is, reduced, then perhaps the tax will not increase as much as the taxable value. If a tax rate of 0.1% is adopted in Cluj-Napoca, it is even possible that the tax will decrease to 718 lei.

And where the tax rates were not at the maximum level (for example, Timisoara) and it was decided to increase them, perhaps the tax will increase by more than 50%.