Are you constantly selling online without paying taxes? ANAF will register you for tax ex officio and then determine how much you owe

ANAF published the tax registration procedure, ex officio or at the request of another authority that administers tax claims, of a taxpayer who did not fulfill his tax registration obligation.

Practically, any natural or legal person carrying out economic activities must, according to the Fiscal Code and the Fiscal Procedure Code, register with ANAF – that is, obtain a fiscal identification code (CIF) or a CUI (unique registration code, for companies).

If it does not, it means that there is real economic activity (income, supplies, services), but it is not declared and not taxed. Basically, it's “outside the system”.

For example:

• Someone who constantly sells clothes, flowers, cosmetics on the Internet or at fairs without being tax registered. Although the income is recurring and commercial, it does not appear anywhere in the ANAF records.

• “Ghost” companies that operate without legally registering. Example: a company that issues invoices through an unregistered entity or that has real activity but has not submitted its documents to the Trade Register. These cases are often part of VAT fraud chains (fictitious invoices, “carousel”).

• Foreign natural persons or companies from other states providing services in Romania without local tax registration. Ex: an IT company from outside the EU that offers services in Romania (subscriptions, consulting, etc.) without registering with ANAF for VAT. The obligation exists according to EU rules (the place of performance is Romania).

• Owners who rent homes without declaring the contracts to ANAF. The legal obligation is clear (registration of the contract within 30 days).

Many choose not to, to avoid paying rent tax (10%) and health contribution (CASS, if over the cap).

• Freelancers or influencers who earn income from collaborations, but do not have a tax form. Ex: income from online advertising, sponsorships, consulting, design, etc. Many mistakenly believe that payments through external platforms (PayPal, Revolut, Stripe) escape taxation.

In principle, the tax authority, either on its own initiative or at the request of another authority, when it identifies a taxpayer who has not registered for tax, even if he had this obligation, notifies him of the tax registration obligation.

Several situations can arise from here:
a) The taxpayer fulfills his tax registration obligation;

b) The taxpayer does not respond to the notification, in which case he is re-notified and invited to the competent tax authority;

c) The taxpayer does not respond to any request from the tax authority, in which case the tax registration is carried out ex officio and, hence, the other correlative consequences, such as the establishment of ex officio debts and enforcement procedures.

In this sense, ANAF approved the model and content of several forms, such as:

• “Report on the request for fiscal registration, ex officio”;

• “Notification regarding fiscal registration, ex officio/at the request of another authority that administers fiscal receivables”;

• Invitation regarding the exercise of the right to be heard, in case of non-appearance at the first deadline set by the fiscal body for the hearing”;

• “Report on the measures proposed as a result of the tax registration procedure, ex officio/at the request of another authority that administers tax claims”;

• “Decision on fiscal registration, ex officio/at the request of another authority that administers fiscal receivables”;

• “Notice regarding the termination of the fiscal registration procedure, ex officio/at the request of another authority that administers fiscal receivables”.