Tax revenues are an important part of budget revenues, and their structure represent the mirror of government’s fiscal policy. Also their level and structure reflects the evolution of the economy in general. The evolution of tax revenues has been influenced by the financial crisis of this period. The tax revenue structure in Romania is characterized by relatively high share of indirect taxes revenues in comparison with another European Union states, where the share of revenues from direct, indirect taxes and social contribution is relatively close.
Government expenditure is vital for the economy especially if they are focused on productive areas. They are the engine of economic developments and plays an important role in raising the standard of living of population in a state. In the last years, the growth rate of public expenditure was higher than the trend of tax revenues increase. Sizing revenue and public expenditure is essential for achieving the budget balance target and to meet the criterion stipulated in the Stability and Growth Pact. According to the Pact, the budget deficit may not exceed 3% of GDP. This development asymmetric led to increased deficits in the last years.
The high level of structural deficit has canceled an initiative to tax relaxation in this recession period. The need for fiscal consolidation has been paramount in the context of chronic deficit and difficulties faced in financing it. The opportune solution to finance the high public deficit and to achieve the objective of financial stability of the economy was contracting of public debt from International Monetary Fund. Other measures to reduce the deficit were the reduction of public expenditure and increasing tax revenues.
We propose in this paper to analyze the evolution of fiscal indicators in comparison with the evolution of macroeconomic indicators to capture the reaction of taxpayers and economic environment at measures adopted.