Received an ANAF letter on VAT risk? What to check and how to correct before an inspection
By Dr. Bogdan Năstase
The short answer
On 30 October 2026 ANAF announced a national VAT compliance programme: information letters inviting companies to check their returns against e-Factura, cash register, SAF-T and RO e-TVA data. Correct VAT return errors in a later return's regularisation rows, material errors through ANAF's procedure and informative returns by amended returns, before any inspection starts.
The diagram and the steps below are a working English translation of the Romanian texts of law cited next to each element. The Romanian text prevails. In the diagram, CPF stands for the Fiscal Procedure Code (Codul de procedură fiscală).
The process, step by step
Identify the document. A compliance notification under art. 121^1 of the Fiscal Procedure Code gives 30 days from communication to file or correct returns, during which the inspection body takes no step to select the company (art. 121^1 paras. 1 and 2). An inspection notice is communicated 15 days before the inspection, or 30 days for large taxpayers, with exceptions, and tax returns for the inspected periods can be filed or corrected until the inspection starts (art. 122 paras. 2, 4 and 7 letter e). Any other letter does not change the general correction rules (art. 105).
Check that every return was filed. As a rule, a VAT-registered company files a VAT return for each fiscal period by the 25th of the following month (Fiscal Code, art. 323 para. 1).
Compare the returns with the accounting and tax records, including the SAF-T file. This is the comparison an inspection makes (Fiscal Procedure Code, art. 113 para. 2 letters b and c).
Classify each difference and correct it on the right route. Data recorded incorrectly in a VAT return: in the VAT return of a later fiscal period, in the regularisation rows (Fiscal Code, art. 323 para. 3; Fiscal Procedure Code, art. 105 para. 4). A material error in the VAT return, such as a transcription error: a request to the tax office, with supporting documents (Order 3604/2015, Annex 1, points 3 and 9). An informative return, including the SAF-T file: an amended return, whatever the period (Fiscal Procedure Code, art. 1 point 19, art. 105 paras. 2 and 3). Another tax return: an amended return within the five-year limitation period (art. 105 paras. 1 and 3, art. 110).
Pay the difference. Interest of 0.02% and a late-payment penalty of 0.01% are due for each day, from the day after the original due date (Fiscal Procedure Code, art. 174 paras. 2 and 5, art. 176 paras. 1 and 2).
Options compared: advantages, disadvantages, risks
Option | Advantages | Disadvantages | Risks |
Correct before any inspection | Interest of 0.02% and penalty of 0.01% per day (Fiscal Procedure Code, art. 174 para. 5, art. 176 para. 2), instead of the 0.08% per day non-declaration penalty on amounts set by a tax decision (art. 181 para. 1) | The additional amount carries interest from the day after its original due date until payment (art. 174 para. 2); correcting does not prevent selection for inspection after the 30-day window of a compliance notification (art. 121^1 para. 3) | Corrections filed during an inspection, for the inspected periods and taxes, are not taken into account (art. 105 para. 8); the material error procedure is not available for periods already inspected or under inspection (Order 3604/2015, Annex 1, point 5) |
Wait for an inspection | None established by law | Amounts set by a tax decision carry the 0.08% daily non-declaration penalty plus interest (art. 181 paras. 1 and 4), reduced by 75% only if paid by the decision's payment deadline or rescheduled (art. 181 para. 2) | After a compliance notification, high-risk taxpayers that have not remedied the risks are subject to a mandatory tax inspection or desk review (art. 121^1 para. 4); the penalty doubles where tax evasion is established by the judicial bodies (art. 181 para. 3) |
Key takeaways
ANAF's press release is the authority's position, not a rule of law: the correction routes come from the Fiscal Code, the Fiscal Procedure Code and Order 3604/2015.
The Fiscal Code route for VAT return errors is the regularisation rows of a later VAT return (Fiscal Code, art. 323 para. 3; Fiscal Procedure Code, art. 105 para. 4).
Material errors follow ANAF's own procedure, at the tax office (Fiscal Procedure Code, art. 105 para. 4; Order 3604/2015).
Timing matters: once an inspection starts, corrections for the inspected periods no longer count (Fiscal Procedure Code, art. 105 para. 8).
What did ANAF announce on 30 October 2026?
ANAF announced a preventive national compliance programme for taxpayers identified with possible VAT risks, who are informed directly and guided to check and correct inconsistencies before a tax inspection is started (ANAF press release ARPC 1010 of 30 October 2026, position of the authority). The letters invite companies to:
check that they have filed their tax returns and informative returns;
make sure the declared information is complete and correct;
check that the returns match the invoices issued and received through RO e-Factura, the amounts recorded in cash registers, the SAF-T reports and the pre-filled VAT return generated through RO e-TVA.
The press release describes the programme as based on centralised analysis of non-compliance risks. The Fiscal Procedure Code defines risk analysis as the tax authority's activity of identifying, assessing and managing risks of non-compliance (art. 1 point 3). The press release does not cite an article of law or set a reply deadline for the letters.
Is an information letter the same as a compliance notification?
Not necessarily. The press release calls the documents information letters. The Fiscal Procedure Code separately regulates a compliance notification, sent in writing by the inspection body to taxpayers presumed to be selected for inspection (art. 121^1 para. 1). Read the title of the document you received and the article of law it cites:
Compliance notification (art. 121^1): you have 30 days from communication to file or correct returns; until then, the inspection body takes no step to select you (para. 2). Correcting does not prevent selection afterwards (para. 3), and high-risk taxpayers that have not remedied the notified risks are subject to a mandatory tax inspection or desk review (para. 4).
Inspection notice (art. 122): communicated 30 days before the inspection for large taxpayers and 15 days for others (para. 2), with exceptions (para. 4). It states that tax returns for the inspected periods can be filed or corrected until the inspection starts (para. 7 letter e).
Any other letter: the general correction rules of art. 105 apply.
What does ANAF compare?
ANAF lists four data sources: invoices through RO e-Factura, cash register amounts, SAF-T reports and the RO e-TVA pre-filled VAT return (press release ARPC 1010, position of the authority). The RO e-TVA pre-filled return is regulated by Emergency Ordinance 70/2024 (art. 1 para. 1). The ordinance's separate difference procedure and its fine were repealed in 2026 (Emergency Ordinance 89/2025, art. XII; Emergency Ordinance 13/2026, art. IV); see what still applies to the RO e-TVA pre-filled return.
The checks below follow the list in ANAF's press release:
List the VAT returns, informative returns and SAF-T files due for each period, and confirm each was filed.
Reconcile output VAT with the invoices issued through RO e-Factura and with the cash register totals.
Reconcile input VAT with the invoices received through RO e-Factura.
Reconcile the VAT returns with the SAF-T file for the same period.
Compare each VAT return with the RO e-TVA pre-filled return for the same period.
In a group, the same SAF-T data can show invoices that loop back through linked companies; see how a CFO can review them.
How do you correct a VAT return?
Through a later VAT return. Data recorded incorrectly in a VAT return can be corrected in the VAT return of a later fiscal period and are entered in the regularisation rows (Fiscal Code, art. 323 para. 3). The Fiscal Procedure Code sends VAT return corrections to the Fiscal Code (art. 105 para. 4).
For any additional amount resulting from a corrected return, interest runs from the day after the due date of the amount concerned, at 0.02% per day, and the late-payment penalty at 0.01% per day (Fiscal Procedure Code, art. 174 paras. 2 and 5, art. 176 paras. 1 and 2).
Illustration. VAT of RON 10,000 underdeclared and paid 100 days late: interest RON 200 (10,000 x 0.02% x 100) and penalty RON 100 (10,000 x 0.01% x 100), RON 300 in total. Had the same amount been set by a tax decision, the non-declaration penalty would be RON 800 (10,000 x 0.08% x 100), plus RON 200 interest; the penalty falls to RON 200 if the amount is paid by the decision's payment deadline (Fiscal Procedure Code, art. 181 paras. 1, 2 and 4). The figures are an arithmetic illustration only; the actual days and amounts depend on the case.
What is a material error, and how is it corrected?
A material error is a mistake in completing the VAT return, not in the accounting. Order 3604/2015 lists transcription errors (amounts taken incorrectly from the journals, inverted digits, data taken incorrectly from the previous return, such as the balance payable), payment differences found by inspectors but entered in the wrong rows, and errors from entering amounts claimed for refund in the previous period (Annex 1, point 3). An omitted refund box is also a material error, corrected by a sworn statement filed by the deadline of the next return (point 12).
The procedure:
File the request at the tax office registry or by registered post, with the supporting documents (point 9).
The tax office issues a correction decision, completed only for the rows that changed (point 10).
Carry the resulting difference into the VAT return for the period after the decision is communicated, in the Regularisations section (point 11).
A rejection can be challenged within 45 days of communication (point 13 para. 4).
The procedure applies within the limitation period, but not to periods already inspected or under inspection, unless an inspection measures order provides for it (points 4 to 6). It does not apply to errors in recording VAT in the accounts, which follow the Fiscal Code (Order 3604/2015, art. 3).
How do you correct informative returns and the SAF-T file?
By amended returns. An informative return can be corrected whatever the period it refers to, by filing an amended return (Fiscal Procedure Code, art. 105 paras. 2 and 3). The Code treats the SAF-T file as an informative return (art. 1 point 19, art. 59^1). ANAF's press release also refers to amended returns for each reference period (position of the authority).
How far back can you correct?
A tax return can be corrected within the limitation period for setting tax claims (Fiscal Procedure Code, art. 105 para. 1): five years, running from 1 July of the year after the one for which the tax is due (art. 110 paras. 1 and 2). It can no longer be filed or corrected after the subsequent verification reserve has been lifted, except in the cases listed in art. 105 para. 6 (art. 105 para. 5).
Who is affected?
Any VAT-registered company that receives one of ANAF's information letters, and any company that wants to check its VAT position before an inspection. The VAT return obligation applies to persons registered for VAT under art. 316 of the Fiscal Code (art. 323 para. 1).
What to do next
Read the document's title and the article of law it cites, and note the date of communication.
Run the checks above for every period mentioned, and for the periods since the last inspection.
Correct each difference on its route: regularisation rows, material error request or amended return.
Pay the differences and the interest and penalties due.
Keep the reconciliations and corrections on file: an inspection compares the returns with the accounting and tax records (Fiscal Procedure Code, art. 113 para. 2 letter b).
Frequently asked questions
Is an ANAF information letter a tax inspection?
No. ANAF describes the programme as preventive, with checks and corrections before a tax inspection is started (press release ARPC 1010, position of the authority). An inspection is announced by an inspection notice (Fiscal Procedure Code, art. 122).
Is there a deadline to act on the letter?
The press release sets none; check the letter itself. A compliance notification under art. 121^1 of the Fiscal Procedure Code gives 30 days from communication (art. 121^1 para. 2).
How is an error in a VAT return corrected?
The Fiscal Procedure Code sends VAT return corrections to the Fiscal Code (art. 105 para. 4), whose route is a later VAT return, in the regularisation rows (Fiscal Code, art. 323 para. 3); material errors follow ANAF's procedure (Order 3604/2015).
What does a voluntary correction cost?
Interest of 0.02% and a late-payment penalty of 0.01% for each day of delay (Fiscal Procedure Code, art. 174 para. 5, art. 176 para. 2).
Can I still correct after receiving an inspection notice?
Yes, until the inspection starts (Fiscal Procedure Code, art. 122 para. 7 letter e). Corrections filed during the inspection, for the inspected periods and taxes, are not taken into account (art. 105 para. 8).
Can informative returns be corrected for any period?
Yes. An informative return, including the SAF-T file, can be corrected by an amended return whatever the period it refers to (Fiscal Procedure Code, art. 1 point 19, art. 105 paras. 2 and 3).
Sources
Fiscal Code (Law no. 227/2015), art. 316 and art. 323 paras. 1, 3 and 4, consolidated form published by ANAF (last amendment noted: Law no. 204/2026), on static.anaf.ro
Fiscal Procedure Code (Law no. 207/2015), art. 1 points 3 and 19, art. 59^1, art. 105, art. 110, art. 113, art. 121^1, art. 122, art. 156, art. 174, art. 176, art. 181, consolidated form published by ANAF (last amendment noted: Law no. 170/2026), on static.anaf.ro
Order of the President of ANAF no. 3604/2015 approving the Instructions for correcting material errors in VAT returns, art. 3 and Annex 1, Official Gazette no. 926 of 15 December 2015, on static.anaf.ro
Emergency Ordinance no. 70/2024 on the RO e-TVA pre-filled VAT return, art. 1, initial form, on static.anaf.ro
ANAF, press release ARPC 1010 of 30 October 2026 on the VAT compliance programme (position of the authority), on static.anaf.ro
Related reading on piroi.com: VAT group in Romania and Audit in Romania.
Last updated: 1 November 2026. This article is for information only and does not replace an analysis of your specific situation. Drafted with AI assistance; references were verified against the primary sources.
Questions about an ANAF letter on VAT risk? Primary contact: Bogdan Năstase · Managing Partner, International Lead
