Tens of thousands of companies registered “in the pile” in the same addresses: the amounts not unleashed by ANAF are 30 billion lei

Over 6,000 PFA and 2,600 companies with large state debts are registered with a single address in Bucharest, the audit of the Court of Accounts on ANAF activity highlighting total non -unleacted amounts of almost 30 billion lei from several tens of thousands of companies registered “in the pile”.

Thousands of companies with large state debts registered with a single address in Bucharest

“At 2,440 addresses in Romania there are 47,513 companies, totaling debts to the state budget of almost 30 billion lei. The fiscal risk determined by the operation in a registered office located at the same address with tens, hundreds or even thousands of companies must be evaluated by the tax authorities“, The Court of Accounts on Wednesday information on Wednesday.

During the compliance audit carried out at the National Agency for Fiscal Administration, the Court of Accounts expressed a conclusion with reserves on how the legal provisions regarding the training, highlighting, pursuit and collection of the general consolidated budget administered by ANAF were respected in 2023.

According to the audit findings, deficiencies were found regarding: the accounting records of the state revenues and the analytical record on the payers; establishing the fiscal risk; activity in the field of transfer prices; the activity of solving the applications for the VAT refund; Collecting of VAT budgetary receivables and profit tax.

Based on the data received from the National Agency for Fiscal Administration, the National Center for Financial Information and the National Trade Register Office, the Court's audit team carried out an analysis, reaching the conclusion that it is necessary to investigate the taxpayers who have the fiscal offices at the same address and which register important debts to the state budget. In the analysis, the auditors reported:

– In Romania there are 2,440 addresses that total over 1 million lei debts/address to the state budget on 31.12.2023, to which there are multiple registrations of companies. The total number of companies that have the registered office declared at these identified addresses is 47,513, with total debts cumulated of almost 30 billion lei (29,666,938 thousand lei);

– 361 addresses have been identified to which more than 10 companies operate, of which 72 addresses operating more than 100 companies in the same location;

The risk analysis performed by the structures with attributions within the ANAF must complete the fiscal risk indicators so that they also capture this non -compliant behavior.

In order to combat this phenomenon, changes are required on the current legal framework that allows the registration with the National Trade Register of a number of multiple registers, at the same address, including on the basis of legal assistance contracts, which become permanent. The Court of Accounts has identified a large number of addresses on the territory of Romania to which the social headquarters belonging to hundreds and thousands of companies (at the same address) are registered, most of them in Bucharest.

6.061 PFA and 2,398 companies to a single address

Thus, at an address in Bucharest Boulevard, sector 1, had a professional headquarters declared in the same space a number of 6061 authorized natural persons, as well as 2398 companies. Also in Sector 1, at an address on Argentina Street, they had the declared registered office a number of 1895 companies, with cumulative debts of 465,708 lei. Another example we meet in Sector 2, where in a single apartment in an building on Arhitect Grigore Ionescu street operated 2736 companies, with a total balance of debts of 124,773,065 lei (at 31.12.2023).

The fiscal risk determined by the operation in a registered office located at the same address with dozens, hundreds or even thousands of companies should be evaluated by the tax authorities.

Companies with large debts “transferred” to other shareholders

According to the audit report, the analysis of the existing fiscal risk in the case of a large number of companies with the registered office at the same address will allow the fiscal control bodies to identify those groups of persons specialized in ensuring the transfer of companies with large debts to the state budget to other shareholders and administrators than those who have benefited from the non -payment of taxes and taxes for the purpose of the state, for the purpose of the state. lacking efficiency the recovery measures of the tax authorities.

Most of these commercial companies should arouse the interest of the tax authorities, being obvious the fiscal risks determined by the functioning “in a heap” by the order of tens, hundreds or even thousands of companies at a unique address as well as the fact that they have a valid VAT code, all these commercial companies being part of the VAT deductibility circuits, with the VAT, with a SATE influence.

The debts in the criminal files cannot be centralized

Regarding the activity of the forced execution service special cases regional Bucharest, the auditors found that there is no operational procedure regarding the registration of debts from criminal sentences in the analytical records on payers and in the accounting records of the budgetary receivables from criminal sentences. Also, the computer application is not completely operational, so as to allow the centralization of the debts from criminal sentences, the receipts and amounts to be recovered to the state budget.

“From the analysis of the activity of estimating the VAT GAP at ANAF level, the need for ANAF/Ministry of Finance of the activity of estimating fiscal gaps and making the forecasts regarding the fiscal revenues to ensure the fiscal administration in Romania to reduce the VAT GAP by identifying the vulnerable activities, to the administrative activities, taxpayers' tax as well as identifying fiscal policy measures that can be adjusted. ” notes the Court of Accounts.

The development by ANAF/MF of the activity of estimating the fiscal gaps and of carrying out the forecasts regarding the tax revenues will allow to ensure the institutional capacity of the ministry to support an effective collaboration with the structures of the European Commission (EC) which are involved in evaluating the compliance with VAT of the Member States.

The methodologies used by the EC, respectively by the International Monetary Fund, reveal, at the same time, the importance of the fiscal policy component that significantly affects the VAT GAP in Romania, given the existing facilities in the VAT legislation, which determines VAT gaps from the use of tax exemptions or reduced VAT quotas, applying tax exemptions, etc.

The report on the VAT compliance gaps, published by the EC in December 2024, shows that Romania registered a decreasing trend of the indicator for 2022, falling to 30.6%, compared to 34.8% as it registered in 2021.

Additional revenues of over 572 million lei have been identified

Following the audits made at the territorial structures of ANAF (41 county administrations of public finances, the administrations of sectors 1-6 and the medium taxpayer administration within the DGRFP Bucharest, the General Directorate of the Taxpayers) resulted in non-compliances, being identified additional revenues worth 572,458 thousand lei 2,762,819 thousand lei.

By the letter to the management, recommendations were formulated both to remedy the non -conformities recorded at the level of the territorial structures of the ANAF, as well as to remedy the non -conformities recorded at the central device of ANAF.