As of October 26, the Emergency Ordinance No. 181/2020 came into effect, outlining new fiscal measures regarding the taxation of COVID-19 tests covered by employers and the new deadline for the suspension of enforced debt collection through garnishment of budgetary claims.

a) Changes to the Fiscal Code

The costs incurred by the employer/payer for conducting COVID-19 diagnostic tests, initiated by them, for individuals who earn income from salaries or similar income, to detect and prevent the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus and ensure that activities are carried out under safe and healthy working conditions during the state of emergency or alert, according to the law:

– Are included in the category of non-taxable income;
– Are included in the category of salary income and income similar to salaries that are not included in the monthly calculation base for social security contributions;

b) The deadline provided in Art. VII para. (4) of the Government Emergency Ordinance No. 29/2020 regarding certain economic and fiscal-budgetary measures, with subsequent amendments, is extended until December 25, 2020, inclusive.

The above deadline pertains to the suspension of enforced debt collection through garnishment of budgetary claims:

“Enforced debt collection through garnishment of budgetary claims is suspended or does not commence, except for enforced debt collection related to budgetary claims established by final court decisions in criminal matters, or state aid recovery orders issued by a decision of the European Commission/the state aid provider or a national court. The suspension of enforced debt collection through garnishment on seizable amounts representing income and available cash is applied automatically by credit institutions or other garnishees, without any further formalities from the tax authorities.”

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