ANAF presented ANA, the first virtual chatbot. What did he answer when asked how much someone who rents an apartment for 200 euros a month owes to the State

“Hello! I'm ANA” — this is how the new chatbot created by the National Fiscal Administration Agency (ANAF) introduces itself — an intelligent virtual assistant designed to help taxpayers quickly obtain general information about tax obligations. In a first stage, which is the testing phase, the ANA chatbot will only be available in users' SPV accounts, ANAF officials say.

As a technology-based tool, ANA will have a partial set of answers to user questions at launch.

So far the answers are rather vague. The chatbot was asked by the HotNews journalist how much he owes the State if he rented an apartment for 200 euros per month, of which he is a 50% co-owner, Ana answered:

“If you are an individual and you want to rent an immovable asset (house, apartment, etc.) or a movable asset (car, boat, etc.) to another individual, legal entity or other entity, then you must:

register the rental agreement with the tax authority, by filing C168. The contract concluded between the parties, as well as the subsequent changes, shall be registered with the competent tax authority within 30 days from the conclusion/production of the change. In the situation where the asset is jointly owned, by the lease contract or, as the case may be, by the act of its modification, the owner, usufructuary or other legal holder is designated who fulfills the obligation to register the contract concluded between the parties. declare the realized income and establish the income tax and CASS (as applicable) through the D212 form (e.g. if you rented the property to another natural person) by May 25 inclusive of the year following the year in which the income was made; you pay income tax and CASS, as the case may be, up to and including May 25 of the year following the year in which the income is generated.

If the tenant is a legal person or other entity that has the obligation to keep accounting records, the income payer also has the obligation to calculate, withhold, declare and pay the tax corresponding to the amounts paid, as well as to issue, at the request of the owner, usufructuary or other legal holder, beneficiary of income, a document certifying the amount of income tax withheld and paid”

Next, the chatbot will be in a continuous process of updating and will develop its performance as it interacts with users, based on the questions asked by them. The system is continuously developing and improving with each issue or question raised, and through each interaction with users, the ANA will continuously improve its ability to provide accurate and relevant information to taxpayers. The more users access the chatbot and ask questions, the more accurate, useful and tailored the virtual assistant will become to the real needs of taxpayers.

In the first stage, ANA will provide general information on the tax obligations of natural persons who obtain income from the rental of personal property and/or self-employment. As the system accumulates data and experience through real interactions, the areas covered will expand, helping to significantly simplify communication between taxpayers and the tax administration. Thus, in the future, ANA will be able to answer a wider range of questions in the tax field, simplifying access to tax information for all taxpayers.

ANAF encourages taxpayers to actively interact with ANA and provide permanent feedback, thus contributing to the continuous improvement of the system. Every question asked represents a direct contribution to building a better performing digital public service.