Romanian Court of Accounts finds major irregularities in tax agency operations

Romania’s Court of Accounts has identified significant deficiencies in the operations of the National Agency for Fiscal Administration (ANAF) during 2023, according to findings from a compliance audit quoted by Ziarul Financiar on June 6. The audit report highlighted problems across several critical areas, including the accounting of state revenues, tax risk assessment, transfer pricing controls, VAT refund processing, and the collection of taxes such as VAT and corporate income tax.

A key issue uncovered by the auditors was the existence of 47,513 companies operating at just 2,440 addresses – an average of almost 20 companies per location. These companies collectively owed nearly RON 30 billion (EUR 6 billion) to the state budget.

The Court of Accounts issued a qualified conclusion on ANAF’s compliance with legal provisions governing the formation, recording, tracking, and collection of general consolidated budget revenues. The findings suggest systemic weaknesses in ANAF’s ability to monitor and enforce tax obligations.

Particular concern was raised regarding the Bucharest Regional Special Cases Enforcement Service, where auditors found no established operational procedure for registering debts arising from criminal court rulings. These debts were also missing from both the analytical records of individual payers and the accounting records of receivables owed to the state.

In addition, the IT system intended to manage and track debts stemming from criminal cases was found to be incomplete. The application does not currently support full centralisation of such debts, nor the monitoring of collections or outstanding amounts owed to the state budget.

The findings come amid growing pressure on Romania’s government to improve revenue collection and reduce its fiscal deficit. The lack of administrative control over significant tax liabilities, particularly those related to criminal cases, may undermine efforts to close the budget gap and improve fiscal discipline.

iulian@romania-insider.com

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