Abstract:

Petroleum activities worldwide are subject to a wide range of taxation instruments. These include taxes that apply to all other sectors of the economy and taxes specific to the oil and gas industry. Tax regimes in the oil and gas sector often include special provisions for changing the timing or amount of revenue allocations. These provisions are typically designed as incentives to attract investors, to respond to the unique attributes of a petroleum asset, or to influence investor choices for specific public policy objectives. For these reasons, both Romania and other European states encounter different types of royalties, taxes, fees, or additional contributions applied to the oil and gas industry in conjunction with the general taxation rules specific to each state. That's why establishing of an appropriate oil and gas sector taxation regime for Romania must start with analysing of the specific conditions of this sector in our country. For this purpose, the paper approaches the identification of the main elements that characterize a tax system specific to the hydrocarbon extraction sector (in the first part) and analyzes the current tax system applied to this sector, also proposing some measures to improve it (in the second part).