November 27 (SeeNews) - The European Commission said on Wednesday it has requested Romania to comply with EU law on VAT for used objects containing precious metals or stones and on the development of a new IT system for monitoring the circulation of excise goods.
The Commission decided to send a letter of formal notice to Romania for failing to correctly implement EU rules on the VAT treatment of used objects containing precious metals or stones, it said in its November infringement package.
EU law prescribes special arrangements for VAT designed to facilitate trade of second-hand goods for these items.
According to the Commission, the Romanian rules exclude all used objects containing precious metals, precious stones or semi-precious stones from the special VAT scheme, creating difficulties for businesses in this sector.
If Romania does not act within the next two months, the Commission may send a reasoned opinion to the Romanian authorities.
The EC also said it decided to send Romania a letter of formal notice for failing to fund and develop on time the new versions of an IT system for monitoring the EU-wide circulation of excise goods such as alcohol, tobacco and energy products.
According to the Commission, Romania is already running an outdated version of the IT system and has not taken the necessary measures to use the new version.
"The failure for Romania to act in time could have serious internal market consequences, as excise goods would normally only be allowed to circulate duty paid to or from Romania. It can also harm all the other Member States who need to send and receive administrative information from Romania. If Romania does not act within the next two months, the Commission may send a reasoned opinion to the Romanian authorities," the Commission said.
(1 euro=4.7792 lei)