Irregularities at currency exchange offices. ANAF imposed fines and confiscations of almost 3.5 million lei
More than 85% of the currency exchange offices checked by the Antifraud inspectors were found to have fiscal irregularities, following a pilot control carried out at the national level by ANAF. The authorities imposed fines and confiscations totaling almost 3.5 million lei, after discovering untaxed currency exchange operations, transactions carried out without complying with customer identification obligations and violations of the rules regarding the acceptance of electronic payments.
Anti-fraud inspectors seized currency and imposed fines. Photo by Shutterstock
In one of the cases, inspectors seized more than 200,000 euros in currency, along with other significant sums in Swiss francs, dollars and pounds.
Pilot control carried out at national level
According to ANAF, the Antifraud inspectors recently carried out a control and monitoring pilot project on a sample of 33 economic operators who carry out currency exchange activities through 54 work points.
The taxpayers were selected based on the risk analyzes carried out at the institutional level, the action targeting operators with a significant volume of transactions in the field of foreign exchange.
Through this action, the inspectors aimed to evaluate the degree of tax compliance, identify specific vulnerabilities of the sector and test some modern methods of analysis and verification.
ANAF also used the video recordings of the verified operators
In the framework of the pilot project, Antifraud inspectors applied an integrated control approach, by correlating the information resulting from the financial-accounting and tax documents with the data and information available, including the records of the video surveillance systems owned by the verified companies.
ANAF specifies that this method was used in accordance with the legal obligations provided by the legislation regulating the activity of taxpayers carrying out foreign exchange activities.
According to the institution, the verifications contributed to the establishment of fiscal factual situations and to the verification of the agreement between the operations actually carried out and those highlighted in the supporting documents.
Irregularities in more than 85% of verified taxpayers
The results of the pilot project indicated the existence of some forms of fiscal non-compliance in over 85% of the economic operators checked.
ANAF shows that the checks have been completed for most of the taxpayers included in the project, but in the case of 10 taxpayers, the checks are still ongoing.
Until now, the Antifraud inspectors have applied sanctions totaling 3,454,520 lei.
Of this amount, 1,112,000 lei represent contravention fines, and 2,342,520 lei represent confiscations.
The main irregularities identified
According to ANAF, the most frequent deviations found following the checks were the non-fiscalization of currency exchange operations by not issuing fiscal receipts, non-compliance with the obligation regarding the acceptance of modern means of payment and carrying out operations of sale or purchase of currency for natural persons without these being carried out exclusively on the basis of the identity document or other documents attesting to the identity of the person.
ANAF officials could receive performance bonuses of up to 20%
The inspectors also identified situations of non-compliance regarding the legal obligation to ensure the supervision and recording of activity in each currency exchange point in a digital system, 24/7.
At the same time, significant differences were found between the activity actually carried out and the operations reflected in the fiscal and accounting records of some taxpayers.
The case of an exchange office in Suceava: confiscated currency and fines of 60,000 lei
ANAF also presents an example resulting from the checks carried out at a currency exchange point in Suceava county.
According to the Anti-Fraud inspectors, amounts in foreign currency were identified from currency purchase operations for which tax receipts were not issued, as well as monetary availability entered into the unit without supporting documents.
For the violation of the obligations regarding the use of electronic fiscal marking devices and the justification of the amounts under management, the economic operator was sanctioned with contravention fines in the total amount of 60,000 lei.
Foreign currency amounts of 211,670 euros, 35,320 Swiss francs, 42,534 dollars and 22,140 pounds were also seized.
ANAF is analyzing the expansion of the control model at the national level
According to the institution, the action represents a new stage in the development of risk analysis and control tools used by ANAF, and the results obtained confirm the efficiency of the integrated use of legally available sources of information to identify non-compliant fiscal behaviors.
Based on the conclusions of the pilot project, Antifraud inspectors are analyzing the possibility of expanding this verification model at the national level, with the aim of increasing the degree of fiscal compliance and combating phenomena that affect fair competition and budget revenues.
ANAF announces that it will continue monitoring and control actions in the economic sectors considered to have high fiscal risk, using modern methods of analysis and intervention to protect the interests of the general consolidated budget and to ensure compliance with fiscal legislation.
At the same time, the institution encourages people who carry out currency exchange operations to request the issuance of the tax receipt for each transaction and to notify, through the iBon Fiscal application, the situations in which it is not issued, as well as the cases where economic operators do not comply with the legal obligation to accept modern means of payment, where it is applicable.
