The streaming platforms will have to pay a tax of 4% of their revenues from sole transactions or subscriptions, according to legislation passed by the Parliament through a final vote in the Senate, Profit.ro reported.

The tax will be used to fund the national film fund, managed by the Romanian Film Center. It provides support for the domestic film production.

The project needed 69 votes to pass and received 70, Profit.ro explained.

The tax, initially proposed by the Government of Florin Cîțu, was halved in the debate in the Chamber of Deputies, but MPs decided to go back to the 4% level set initially as a 2% tax was deemed discriminatory compared to the one paid by operators of cinema halls.

In the case of providers headquartered in another EU state, the revenues to be taxed are the ones obtained in Romania.

The tax will not be applied in the case of providers with revenues that did not exceed EUR 65,000 in the previous fiscal year, or with ratings below 1%.

The bill also stipulates that VoD platforms under Romanian jurisdiction need to dedicate at least 30% of their catalogues to European works and promote them. 

At present, the Film Fund is backed by a 3% contribution from the sale or rental price of video cassettes, DVDs and any other recording support; a 4% contribution from the value of the advertising minutes sold by cable televisions; a 4% contribution from the screening of film productions; a 1% contribution from the monthly revenues of cable operators, and a 3% contribution from the price of films downloaded for a fee. Another 4% contribution from the sums collected to the state budget from the revenues of the gambling operators is also allocated to the fund.

Romania plans to levy 2% tax on revenues of HBO, Netflix and other streaming services

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simona@romania-insider.com