TAXATION OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY IN ROMANIA. A QUALITATIVE ANALYSIS OF TAXPAYERS’ EXPERIENCES WITH THE FISCAL REGIME

The taxation of income derived from intellectual property rights currently constitutes both a fiscal challenge for authorities and a major area of interest for Romanian taxpayers, as well. Intellectual property represents, for some, an additional source of income, while for others it is their sole means of livelihood: writers, visual artists and musicians, inventors, researchers, designers, and professionals in the creative and educational industries. An evaluation of the legislative framework and current practices in Romania regarding the taxation of intellectual property income highlights both the benefits and limitations of the existing fiscal regime. Most analyses focus primarily on normative aspects, leaving insufficiently explored the direct experiences of those involved. In this context, the present study aims at understanding taxpayers’ perceptions and attitudes through a qualitative approach, employing in-depth semi-structured interviews (n=7) to achieve the following objectives: a. assessing the level of knowledge and practices regarding the taxation of intellectual property income in Romania; b. determining the characteristics of an optimal fiscal regime which should respond to both administrative requirements and taxpayers’ needs; c. investigating the limitations of current Romanian fiscal provisions, necessary for clarifying applicability and outlining future solutions tailored to specific economic domains such as the creative industries or the educational sector. Hence, this analysis extends the scope of research by emphasizing the taxpayers’ behaviours and proposes directions for fiscal reform based on the real experiences of system users.