2025 comes with a new tax compliance requirement for small taxpayers in Romania, namely the obligation to prepare and submit the 406-SAF-T return (Standard Audit File for Tax) to the tax authorities. The role of this return is to transmit the company’s accounting data electronically to ANAF (National Fiscal Administration Authority).
In other words, the return covers a wide spectrum of information that must be presented, such as: the general ledger, the analytical trial balance, the balances of customers and suppliers, the list of sales invoices, with detail at the invoice line level, the list purchase invoices, with detail at invoice line level, payments, collections and compensations, list of cost/profit centers used, stocks, company assets, etc.
At this moment, it is the most complex reporting statement in Romania.
From the submission deadline perspective, SAF-T reporting can be done monthly for the taxpayers submitting the VAT return monthly or quarterly for taxpayers who submit the VAT return quarterly, the submission deadline being the last calendar day of the month following the reporting period. At the same time, the return 406 SAF-T Fixed Assets is submitted annually, until the deadline for the submission of annual financial statements, and the return 406 SAF-T Stocks is submitted at the request of the tax authorities.
Taxpayers benefit from a grace period of 6 months for the first reporting in the case of monthly reports and respectively 3 months in the case that taxpayers have the obligation of quarterly transmission.
In case of failure to submit SAF-T returns within the legal term, the penalties are between RON 1,000 and RON 5,000 and between RON 500 and RON 1,500, in case of submission of incorrect or incomplete returns.
Non-resident taxpayers who are registered for VAT purposes in Romania, will submit a simplified SAF-T return that will only consider purchases and sales made through the Romanian VAT code.
SAF-T reporting is mandatory for large taxpayers since 2022, and for the others since 2023 (medium taxpayers, banks, non-banking financial institutions, insurance companies or other financial institutions).
The purpose of this return is to support the fiscal inspections that will be carried out based on the information transmitted electronically. At the same time, it is expected that this new reporting will contribute to the reduction of the VAT deficit and to a better collection of taxes.
From the taxpayer’s perspective, it is expected that the VAT refund will be made faster.
Taking into account the experience of large and medium taxpayers since 2022 and 2023, a real challenge for them was the adjustment of the IT systems, generated mainly by the complexity of the information requested on the one hand and the short time in which they had to be prepared for this return, on the other hand.
If we refer to the way in which small companies must be prepared in 2025 to carry out the new reporting, we emphasize the need to adapt internal data systems (accounting, financial, etc.) that involve certain costs or the purchase of a technical solution / dedicated software that can issue this return and which also involves costs, the existence of the staff who will carry out the implementation in the internal systems of the new requirements, and last but not least the performance of an analysis of the data and in most cases their calibration in order to ensure their correctness.
In conclusion, companies should allocate dedicated amounts in their budgets for the costs related to this project and decide which are the viable solutions for their companies (purchase of technical solution versus internal implementation).
