Last updated: 3 November 2017
New legal provisions regarding the enforcement of fiscal obligations of natural persons or legal entities came have become effective following the amendment of Law no. 277/2015 on the Code of Fiscal Procedure by Government Ordinance no. 30 as of 30 August 2017. This Ordinance was published in Official Journal no. 708 as of 31 August 2017. Please find below the most important changes set forth by the said Ordinance.
CHANGE OF THE DEADLINE FOR THE GARNISHMENT OF BANK ACCOUNTS
Prior to the entry into force of Government Ordinance no. 30/2017, in order to recover their tax claims, the relevant tax authorities could place a garnishment on the taxpayers’ bank accounts only 30 days after the communication of the payment notice.
The new legal provisions reduce to one half the deadline for the garnishment of taxpayers’ bank accounts. Therefore, from now on, the deadline will be 15 days from the communication of the payment notice, instead of 30.
SUSPENSION OF THE ENFORCEMENT PROCEDURE, POSSIBLE AGAINST SUBMISSION OF A GUARANTEE LETTER/GUARANTEE INSURANCE POLICY
Government Ordinance no. 30/2017 also brings new changes with respect to the suspension of the enforcement procedure. The Ordinance provides that the debtor can notify the relevant tax authority of his/her intention to submit a guarantee letter/guarantee insurance policy for the amount of the unpaid debt.
After having notified the tax authority, the debtor is required to submit a guarantee letter/guarantee insurance policy within 45 days from the date when the decision establishing the amount of the debt was communicated to him/her.
However, if the taxpayer fails to submit the guarantee letter/guarantee insurance policy within 45 days, the tax authority will be entitled to resume the enforcement procedure against the debtor. Plus, the debtor may also be punished by a fine between 2,500 and 5,000 Lei for large and medium taxpayers (legal entities) and between 500 and 1,000 Lei for the other legal entities and for natural persons.
INTRODUCTION OF A THRESHOLD FOR THE SEIZURE OF THE TAXPAYER’S ASSETS
Government Ordinance no. 30/2017 also establishes new rules with regard to the seizure of the taxpayer’s assets during the enforcement procedure.
Thus, if the amount of the debts towards the tax authority exceeds 500,000 Lei (approximately 109,170 Euros) an if the value of the taxpayer’s assets is very low, namely under 1% of the unpaid debt, such assets will no longer be seized because the tax authority risks collecting almost nothing through the enforcement procedure.
In this case, the tax authority will issue new payment notices and will garnish the debtor’s bank accounts, in order to recover the unpaid amounts.