Romania's New Joint Liability Procedure for Tax Debts (ANAF Order No. 1163/2026)
In brief
Since 14 October 2026, Romania's National Agency for Fiscal Administration (ANAF) has followed a new procedure when it wants other people to pay a debtor's unpaid taxes, usually those of a company. The rules are set out in ANAF Order No. 1163/2026 and also apply to cases already under way.
Who is affected: directors, shareholders, partners, banks that received a garnishment order and affiliated companies, in the situations listed in Article 25 of the Fiscal Procedure Code (FPC).
What ANAF must prove: the specific conduct, bad faith where the law requires it, the amounts, and the causal link between the conduct and the unpaid taxes.
Limits: liability covers only the period in which the person held the relevant role and the amounts caused by their conduct. Time-barred debts are excluded.
Right to be heard: a decision issued without a hearing is null and void.
Short deadlines: 2 working days to request a video hearing and 5 working days after the hearing to submit a written position.
What has changed
The order replaces ANAF Order No. 127/2014, which was written for the former Fiscal Procedure Code, repealed on 1 January 2016. The new order was published in Romania's Official Gazette No. 859 of 14 October 2026 and took effect on publication. Steps already validly taken in pending cases remain valid, but the next steps follow the new rules.
The main change is one of method. For each type of case, the order sets out what the tax authority must examine and prove before a person can be made to pay. When it presented the draft, ANAF stressed that a mere connection with the debtor is not enough (ANAF press release).
Who can be held liable
Article 25 FPC (Law No. 207/2015) lists four groups of situations. Several of them require that ANAF has first declared the company insolvable: a tax-collection status meaning the company has no assets, or not enough, that can be seized. This is different from insolvency proceedings in court.
| Legal basis | Who | Key condition |
|---|---|---|
| Art. 25(1) | Partners in associations without legal personality and members of family businesses, and their legal representatives; garnishees, including banks; legal representatives who tell the bank the company has no other funds; issuers of guarantee letters or guarantee insurance policies | Depends on the role. Representatives must have caused, in bad faith, taxes to go undeclared or unpaid. The others must have breached a specific duty, such as ignoring a garnishment order, declaring a lack of funds in bad faith, or failing to pay under a guarantee |
| Art. 25(2) | Directors, shareholders, buyers of the company's assets and any other person | The company has been declared insolvable, and the person acted in bad faith, for example by transferring or hiding assets, failing to file for insolvency, causing taxes to go undeclared or unpaid, or obtaining refunds that were not due |
| Art. 25(21) | Persons who built up tax debts and avoided paying them | A request to open insolvency proceedings has been filed, the person acted in bad faith, and both the build-up and the avoidance are proven |
| Art. 25(3)(a) | Companies in a control relationship with the debtor | The company acquired assets from the debtor worth at least half of the book value of all its own assets |
Two other situations in Article 25(3), letters (b) and (c), concern dealings with the debtor's customers, suppliers or employees. They are not covered by the procedure, consistent with Constitutional Court Decision No. 49/2025, which found them unconstitutional for lacking clear criteria.
What ANAF must prove
For each case, the tax enforcement body must establish four elements:
1. The conduct: what the person did or failed to do while holding the relevant role.
2. Bad faith, where the law requires it.
3. The amounts: the specific tax debts, by tax period and type, starting with the oldest.
4. The causal link: that this conduct led to the taxes going unpaid or becoming impossible to recover.
The order lists warning signs of bad faith, such as money available on the due date but used for other payments, preferential payments to shareholders, directors or affiliated parties, or asset sales below market value. These signs are not absolute presumptions. They must be weighed against the documents in the file, the relevant period and the person's actual responsibilities. Money spent on expenses needed to keep the business running does not count as diverted from paying taxes.
What amounts can be claimed
Only overdue taxes, with the related interest and penalties, still outstanding when liability is established.
Only debts from the period in which the person held the relevant role, and only up to the amounts caused by their conduct.
Debts for which the right to enforce collection is time-barred are excluded.
For garnishees, guarantee issuers, asset buyers and affiliated companies, liability is capped, for example at the amount withheld from garnishment, the guaranteed amount or the value of the assets acquired.
How the procedure works
The procedure starts with an opening report. The person concerned is then invited to a hearing, where they can see the file, raise objections and submit documents, assisted by a lawyer if they wish. A liability decision can only be issued after the hearing and after the person's position has been analysed.
The case is closed if the evidence is insufficient, if the debts have already been paid, if they fall outside the period in which the person held the role, or if another legal obstacle applies.
Key deadlines
| Step | Deadline | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Request a video hearing | 2 working days from receiving the notice, only via SPV | Annex 4 |
| Date of the hearing | No later than 10 working days from receiving the notice | Point 50 |
| Missing the first hearing | A second notice with a new date is issued | Point 53 |
| Missing the second hearing, or refusing to attend | The hearing is deemed to have taken place | Points 52 and 54 |
| Written position | 5 working days after the hearing | Point 61; Art. 26(2) FPC |
| Paying the decision | Received on the 1st–15th: by the 5th of the following month. Received on the 16th–31st: by the 20th of the following month | Art. 156(1) FPC |
| Appealing the decision | 45 days from receiving it | Point 84 |
"Points" refer to the procedure set out in Annex 1 to the order. A notice sent through SPV, ANAF's online taxpayer portal, counts as received on the day it is posted there, not on the day it is opened. Checking SPV regularly is therefore essential.
The decision
Each person receives a separate decision. It must describe the facts, the period and the causal link, and it must respond, with reasons, to the person's arguments. The decision becomes enforceable only after the payment deadline. A payment made by any of the liable persons reduces the debt for all of them.
The decision can be appealed to the tax authority that issued it within 45 days, and the outcome can then be challenged in court. ANAF may also freeze the person's assets at any stage, even before the decision, if there is a risk that they will hide or dissipate them.
What to do if you receive a notice
Note the date the notice appeared in SPV; the deadlines run from that day.
Ask to see the full file.
Compare the period ANAF relies on with the dates recorded in the Trade Register.
Gather evidence about your actual role, the company's available funds and the payments made.
Attend the hearing with a lawyer and submit your written position within 5 working days.
Conclusion
The new procedure does not widen the circle of people who can be held liable; that is still set by Article 25 FPC. What changes is the standard: ANAF must prove each element concretely, and the person concerned has real tools to defend themselves, provided they use them in time.
This article is for general information only and does not constitute legal advice on any specific case.
