The National Agency for Fiscal Administration (ANAF) transfers decision-making authority from local tax offices to county administrations for VAT refunds, aiming to strengthen risk management while updating administrative terminology across the tax system.
Romania’s tax administration, the National Agency for Fiscal Administration (ANAF), announced on 13 March 2026 that it is modifying Order No. 352/2022, which governs the procedure for handling negative VAT amounts with refund requests.
Under the existing procedure, taxpayers registered for VAT purposes who request refunds—and don’t fall under the special cases outlined in Article 169, paragraphs (2) or (3) of Law No. 207/2015 (Fiscal Procedure Code)—receive their refunds without prior tax inspection.
Under the current procedure, VAT refunds requested by registered taxpayers who do not fall under specific risk categories are granted without a prior tax inspection, and the refund decision is prepared by the relevant department and signed by the head of the tax unit.
To reduce risks in decision-making at local tax offices, the amendment transfers approval authority for VAT refund decisions. Refunds processed by municipal, town, or commune-level tax offices will now require approval from the heads of the county-level public finance administrations that oversee these units.
The amendment also updates terminology throughout the procedure. Following Government Decision No. 565/2024, which modified Government Decision No. 520/2013 on ANAF’s organisation, references to “municipal tax services,” “town tax services,” and “commune tax offices” are being replaced with the unified term “tax units.”
Both the main procedure (Annex 1) and the VAT Refund Decision form (Annex 2) of Order No. 352/2022 will be revised accordingly.
