Law no. 62/2020 on the application of various facilities pertaining to the payment of rent during the period of the state of emergency was published in the Official Gazette no. 425 on 21 May 2020.
A. DEFERMENT OF RENT PAYMENTS
A.1. Facilities
Individuals directly or indirectly affected during the period of the state of emergency may apply for a deferment of rent payments, free of interest charges or penalties, with respect to properties registered as headquarters, workplaces or residences, with the amount of due rent, within certain limits, to be made directly to landlords by the competent regional tax authority.
At the end of the period for which rent payments were deferred, the lessee will repay to the fiscal body the deferred monthly amounts of rent, divided into equal instalments, by 31 December 2020, with non-payment of said amounts leading to foreclosure.
A.2. Beneficiaries
Lessees who are economic operators, practitioners of the liberal professions and legal entities under private law may benefit from these facilities provided they meet the following conditions:
- they interrupted their activity or their revenues and collections fell by at least 15% in March 2020 compared with the average for the previous calendar year during the period of the state of emergency
- the object of the rental contract is a property registered as a headquarters or place of work.
A.3. Duration
The facility granted to lessees will apply throughout the state of emergency as well as for the month following that during which the state of emergency came to an end, i.e. until 30 June 2020.
A.4. Conditions
In order to benefit from this deferment facility, lessees must submit an application to the competent regional tax authority, either by email or by post, together with the following documents:
- the lease contract between lessee and landlord
- the contract addendum, which must include:
- the agreement of the parties to defer the payment of the rent, the duration of the deferment period and the amount of rent pertaining to the deferment period
- the identification data of the landlord and the lessee
- details of the landlord’s bank account into which payment is to be made by the competent regional tax authority
- the date and signatures of both parties
- any supporting documents demonstrating the lessee’s inability to pay the rent during the period specified in the contract addendum
In order to be able to receive payments from the tax authority the landlord must comply with the following conditions:
- the monthly rent specified in the contract addendum must be lower than or at most equal to the rent for February 2020
- the value of monthly rent specified in the contract addendum is not greater than RON 10,000 (approx. EUR 2,000) per location for economic operators or RON 2,000 (approx. EUR 410) per location for individuals
B. TAX INCENTIVES FOR LANDLORDS
B.1. For individuals who obtain rent income: income tax and health insurance contributions exemption
Income obtained by individuals from rental/sub-rental or usufruct agreements in 2020 is non-taxable from an income tax and health insurance contributions point of view. This facility applies where the amount obtained in the year 2020 is at least 30% lower compared with the corresponding value for February 2020.
These facilities also apply to individuals who in 2019 obtained income from more than five separate rental agreements and who, as of 2020, report this income as derived from freelance activities.
B.2. For taxpayers subject to corporate tax or microenterprise tax
Income from rental/sub-rental or usufruct agreements obtained by corporate or microenterprise taxpayers is only 80% taxable. This facility applies:
- if the amount obtained in the year 2020 is at least 20% lower compared with February 2020
- if the income is derived from agreements concluded for reduced rental values
- for the duration of period for which the rent reduction was negotiated, but not beyond 31 December 2020.
Source: Law no. 62/2020 on the application of exemptions from rent payment during the period of the state of emergency, published in the Official Gazette no. 425 on 21 May 2020.
