The Ministry of Finance changes the Code of Fiscal Procedure. Changes will also include taxes and tax audits

  • express regulation that a tax audit carried out by NAFA structures or by the structures of the local public administration authorities may also consist of prevention and compliance actions;
  • flexibility of rules applicable in payment rescheduling and of the rules regarding the payment in installments of adjudicated goods;
  • introducing the possibility of ensuring tax obligations with a letter of guarantee issued by non-banking financial institutions;
  • introduction of the possibility of suspension the delay in beginning the enforcement, for a limited period (45 days), when the debtor notifies the tax authority about its intention to lodge a letter of guarantee/insurance policy;
  • introduction of the possibility to pay the tax receivables administered by the central fiscal body, in one unique account, through a payment order made for State Treasury, compared to the two unique accounts that are being used today;
  • extension for the Virtual Private Space, the electronic communication service for distance transmission developed by The Ministry of Finance/NAFA for other institutions/ public authorities;
  • reduction of the duration of the tax audit by creating the possibility for tax authorities to select, in order to carry out the inspection, the tax fiscal periods that represents fiscal risk;
  • introducing the possibility for tax authorities to organize auctions by electronic means in order to make better use of seized assets;
  • simplifying the procedure for verifying the personal tax situation;
  • the suspension of the execution of the fiscal administrative act which established primary tax obligations, with an effect on the administrative act by which individual obligations have been individualized (accesorium sequitur principale);
  • prohibition of introducing insurable measures against debtors in insolvency proceedings;
  • clarification of some terms and methods of communication by electronic means.

In case of an exhaustive tax audit, taking into account that it is practically impossible (and ineffective) to check all documents and transactions (irrespective of their relevance in terms of taxation) it is proposed to check all fiscal periods and within it the significant documents and operations.

It is regulated the exemption of public notaries to request a tax certificate in the case of taxpayers who, at the time of death, were not assigned with a personal identification number or if a certificate of quality of heir is requested.

Among other suggestions for amendments, the express regulation of art. 175 of the Code of Fiscal Procedure of the fact that the provisions regarding the calculation of interest rates, in case of taxes administered by the central fiscal body for which the tax period is annual, it is also applicable to social contributions.

It is proposed that all delay penalties included in the tax certificate be deferred from payment and canceled upon the successful completion of the staggered payment, compared to the current regulation that provides that only deferral penalties for tax liabilities should stagger payments. Thus, if a taxpayer records overdue liabilities and interest penalties which are late, he can practically obtain cancellation of late payment penalties if he/ she pays the interest on time. It should be noted that this rule does not apply to situations in which debtors do not constitute guarantees, with the exceptions provided by art. 193 par. (3) from the Fiscal Procedure Code, in which case the delay penalties included in the tax certificate shall not be postponed and shall be included in the staggered amount.

It is also proposed to regulate art. 192 with the possibility for tax authorities to set variable rates in the course of a year, depending on the real possibilities for their payment, in a payment rescheduling procedure; given that some taxpayers / payers, such as those who have agricultural or construction activities, have seasonal production, or have interrupted production activity at certain times of the year.

It is proposed to extend the term to pay tax liabilities that are not included in the staggering from 90 days to 180 days, given that tax liabilities incurred between the date of issuance of the tax attestation certificate and the date of notification of the rescheduling payment decision, may be in significant amount, resulting in non-compliance within 90 days. In addition, it is proposed to set a time limit for the reassessment of the guarantee if, in the rescheduling procedure, the debtor requests the modification of the rescheduling decision by including tax obligations in the staggered feature.

It is proposed the differentiated application of the forced execution measures, according to the amount and length of the tax receivables to streamline the forced execution activity in order to direct the resources to the complex actions, Traceable goods, sequestration, asset recovery, etc. Thus, for insignificant claims, only enforcement measures are carried out in massive processes, usually computer-related (summoning, banking, attachment to third parties). Instead, for the material claims, one-off measures are imposed (seizure of immovable property, movable assets, attracting joint liability if the conditions of the law are met), i.e. complex and individual measures.

In order to facilitate the recovery of all budgetary receivables established by court rulings in criminal matters, it is proposed to supplement the Code of Fiscal Procedure with “Chapter XII – Special provisions applicable to special cases of forced execution” laying down special rules as follows: Persons preventively arrested or imprisoned in the penitentiary, communication of enforcement documents to be carried out at the place of detention; In the case of debtors in insolvency and for which a judgment was given in criminal matters, not to suspend the individual recovery procedure for budgetary claims, but to continue according to the Code of Fiscal Procedure; Not to issue a writ of execution, but the enforcement body to proceed directly with the application of the enforcement measure (seizure, etc.), in view of the fact that the final judgment in criminal matters is enforceable, according to law and the debtor is aware already about the existence of the enforceable title; To enforce forced execution measures without communicating the summons in order to avoid that the amounts of money / goods are hidden or scattered, as the case may be.

It is proposed to regulate a sanction for the failure by natural persons to submit the questionnaire for determining the residence of the natural person upon arrival in Romania, respectively the questionnaire for determination of the natural person’s residence upon departure from Romania, as well as for failure to send by the fiscal body, Local information provided by art. 60 par. (4) of the Fiscal Procedure Code, relating to immovable property owned by residents of other Member States of the European Union.

Contact an Advisor

If you have any questions regarding this topic and how it might have an impact on your business, please contact the Mirus Consultant with whom you regularly work, or:

Irina Soare

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  • Bucharest
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