Last updated: 21 January 2016
In certain cases, the tax authority can decide that a taxpayer – whether a legal person or an unincorporated entity – became inactive and, consequently, it can order the registration of the said taxpayer in the Register of inactive taxpayers. Fiscal inactivity is declared in certain cases provided by the Code of fiscal procedure, which lead to the conclusion that the company ceased its activity or that its activity does not follow the normal course. The three inactivity cases provided by the former Code of fiscal procedure were supplemented by four new ones, provided by article 92 of the new Code of fiscal procedure (in force as of January 1st, 2016) and whose application procedure is provided by the ANAF Order no. 3846/2015 (in force as of January 8, 2016). The new cases and their consequences are presented to you hereinafter.
INACTIVITY CASES
The former Code of fiscal procedure provided three situations in which taxpayers could be declared inactive:
- They did not fulfil, during one semester, the obligation to submit the tax statements
- They evaded tax inspections by declaring an unidentifiable tax residence
- They did not carry out their activities at the tax residence they had declared.
From now on, in accordance with the new Code of fiscal procedure, taxpayers – whether legal persons or unincorporated entities – are declared inactive in the following conditions:
- They do not fulfil, during one semester, the obligation to submit the tax statements
- They evade tax inspection by declaring data that does not allow the tax authority to identify them
- The tax authority determines that the taxpayer does not carry out any activity at its registered office
- Temporary inactivity is recorded at the Trade Register
- The company’s duration has expired
- The company lacks statutory bodies
- The duration of the registered office has expired.
CONSEQUENCES
The fact that a company was declared inactive does not mean that it will no longer have to fulfil its tax or other similar obligations and, furthermore, inactivity can have adverse consequences on the company.
First of all, inactive taxpayers’ VAT registration shall be automatically annulled as of the date of the tax authority’s decision.
Moreover, as per the Fiscal Code, inactive taxpayers that carry out economic activities during their inactivity period have to pay fees, taxes and compulsory social security contributions and do not have the right to deduce expenses and VAT for purchases made.
In addition, beneficiaries who purchase goods and/or services from inactive entities do not have the right to deduce the corresponding expenses/VAT, except for goods purchased in enforcement proceedings and/or from bankrupt taxpayers.