Last updated: 28 February 2019
VAT registration procedure for companies has been simplified as of 1st of February 2019, at least in certain specific cases.
According to the Order of the President of the National Agency for Fiscal Administration (ANAF) no. 167/2019, which came into force on the 1st of February 2019, VAT registration can be done electronically on the same day as the submission of the registration file by the taxpayers for whom the application of VAT regime is optional.
BENEFICIARIES OF THE SIMPLIFIED PROCEDURE
The beneficiaries of this new VAT registration procedure are the companies opting for the VAT regime, namely the companies having a turnover surpassing the EUR 88,500 (an equivalent of RON 300,000) threshold of exemption of the VAT payment.
SUBMISSION OF VAT REGISTRATION DECLARATION
The sworn declaration concerning the VAT registration is to be transmitted exclusively via electronic means, alongside with the electronic signature. The document must contain information regarding mainly the following aspects:
- Legal documents attesting the legal ownership of the space/spaces that are used as headquarters or/and declared secondary offices (rental agreement; bailment agreement, etc. and the duration of the contract);
- Proof that no procedure of insolvency or annulment of the VAT registration has been launched against the taxpayer in question;
- The absence of convictions from the tax record of the tax payer’s associates and administrators;
- Number of the company’s employees;
- The person or persons authorized to make transactions on the taxpayer’s banking account/s having the status of administrator or associate of the taxpayer;
- The manner of organization and the bookkeeping.
The declaration must be drafted with the help of the assistance program available online on the Agency’s website. After the declaration is drafted and validated, it must be signed by hand by the administrators and associates, converted into ZIP format, attached to the declaration in PDF format, signed by the qualified digital certificate and consequently sent to the tax authority.
VAT REGISTRATION PROCEDURE
After having submitted the declaration via electronic means, the taxpayer must fill and submit to the tax authority the « Form 010 » and the note concerning the submission of the Declaration, without errors. The tax authority checks if the taxpayer has observed their obligation of transmitting the Declaration alongside with the handwritten signature of their trustees and associates.
If there are no errors ascertained during the submission of the Declaration, the decision of approval of the VAT registration request is delivered on the same day by the tax authority and the taxpayer is not running the risk of being included in the category of taxpayers with a high risk of non-compliance.
The taxpayer will receive the decision at the Headquarters of the tax body, and technically, the VAT registration certificate at the same time.
FALSE DECLARATIONS AND CONSEQUENCES
After having given its approval and transmitted the decision regarding the VAT registration, the Tax Administration proceeds to the verification of the data in the Declaration within 15 days from the date of the online application.
If during the evaluation mismatches between the information written in the declaration and the ledgers kept by the tax body are noticed, the tax body must refer to the Anti-Evasion General Directorate, for taking the necessary measures. At the same time, besides the criminal liability, the false declaration places the private individual/ legal entity in the category of high risk of non-compliance, in the context of the tax risk associated to the taxpayers having the status of administrator, associate/shareholder. The criteria used during the evaluation made by the National Agency for Fiscal Administration remain the same: namely, those contained in the sworn declaration.