EXCLUSIVE PSD leader Marcel Ciolacu proposes to the coalition to surtax the incomes of state employees and special pensions that exceed the president’s salary/ The proposal could also be applied to income from the private sector

Update 25 April 10.30 am:

PSD leader Marcel Ciolacu confirmed the G4Media.ro information on Tuesday morning. Ciolacu said he proposed in the coalition to progressively tax the income of state employees who combine pension with salary and exceed the income of the President of Romania, about 25,000 lei gross per month.PSD leader Marcel Ciolacu proposed on Monday afternoon at the coalition meeting that state employees who combine pension with salary, as well as those state incomes exceeding the income of the President of Romania (approx. 25,000 lei gross), should be taxed progressively, political sources told G4Media.

This concerns income from the accumulation of pension with salary, special pensions, special pensions cumulated with another kind of pension, salaries from state or regulatory companies (ANRE, ASF). According to the sources, the measure was proposed because there were situations where the pension with salary (in the case of Dorneanu) reached 100,000 lei per month.

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The PSD leader would have asked for an analysis to determine whether the measure of overtaxing the income of state employees who exceed the president’s salary can be applied only in the public sector or it will have to be applied in the private sector to withstand a possible constitutionality check.

In other words, it is possible that the surtax measure proposed by Ciolacu will also be applied in the private sector. According to G4Media sources, Prime Minister Nicolae Ciucă has reportedly agreed to the principle of surtaxation. A decision has not yet been taken in the coalition, with the Ministry of Finance to present proposals for the surtax rates.

On the other hand, the PSD president is also said to have proposed that a politician should not be allowed to sit on more than one board of directors. Moreover, board membership would be conditional on the person’s experience in the field.

The PSD leader would also have argued that, also in the austerity package discussed Monday night in the coalition, the doctorate degree bonus (15%) should be paid only if the doctorate degree is related to the person’s field of work.

This is not the first time that Marcel Ciolacu supports the introduction of progressive taxation.

„Once the Romanian state, through the ANAF, the Ministry of Finance and Customs, will digitalize Romania. There is no other future than progressive taxation, unless we stick to Russia’s logic. It seems to me that Estoria is also in this logic,” Ciolacu said at the end of 2022.

The PSD has so far failed to push through the progressive taxation because of opposition from the PNL, which has declared that it still supports the single tax rate.