The National Agency for Fiscal Administration (ANAF) pretends to fight tax evasion and checks companies that buy underwear and salami on the company’s account, instead of focusing on luxury tax evaders who indulge in limousines and apartments.
The new ANAF leadership is focusing on auditing small companies that spend tens or hundreds of lei, and turning a blind eye to luxury tax evaders. ANAF inspectors have created a database of companies’ tax receipts, which show large quantities of bottled water, bags of cold cuts, cheap underwear, and socks on sale. After finding these minor irregularities, they sent thousands of notifications to companies to correct their declarations. This operation uncovered tax evasion of 20, 40, or 400 lei. Even though there are thousands of companies involved, the amounts recovered are very small.
ANAF wasted time chasing tax evaders who buy underwear, while the real tax evasion of tens of billions of euros is right under their noses, but no one is bothering to look into it. It is much easier for ANAF inspectors to attack small companies with tax receipts of tens or hundreds of lei, instead of fighting the real tax evasion mafiosi.
*VAT tax evasion*
Tax evasion in Romania is estimated at 10%, and the most common form of evasion is the non-payment of VAT, which companies apply to products and services. Although citizens pay VAT when they buy a product, tax evaders do not return the money to the state budget and it remains in the pockets of businesspeople. Every year, one third of the VAT paid is lost, i.e. around 37 billion lei, which instead of going to the state budget remains in the accounts of businesspeople.
ANAF should intervene immediately and check the companies’ accounts, but it looks on indifferently as the state budget loses over 7 billion euros every year. The VAT increase in 2025 will amplify this evasion, because citizens will pay more and tax evaders will steal more.
With all the tax evasion, the state budget loses 32-33 billion euros annually, Adrian Câciu said in 2024, when he was head of the Ministry of Finance.
*The oil industry, champion of tax evasion*
The sectors that steal the most money are not small businesses that buy underwear and cold cuts, but large companies that turn over millions of euros.
The oil industry is the champion of tax evasion because it is populated by ghost companies that disappear before returning VAT or companies that do not issue tax receipts. The construction industry is next on the list of the biggest tax evaders, with the Nordis case being a very famous example. Next come the waste processing industry, the hospitality industry, and online commerce. Many of these cases are notable for the fact that they do not issue receipts and do not return VAT.
*Luxury tax evaders, forgiven by ANAF*
ANAF inspectors turn a blind eye on private companies’ luxury tax evasion. Many companies in Romania buy luxury cars with company money, or apartments, Hermes and Louis Vuitton bags, Rolex watches, and other luxury goods for the extravagant lifestyle of businesspeople. In these cases, ANAF does not check payments and tax receipts, does not ask questions, and many businesspeople lead a life of luxury by declaring such expenses on the company’s account.
Instead, ANAF wastes time and resources chasing after 50-lei tax receipts because a company bought underwear or cold cuts. ANAF inspectors prove that they are strong with the weak and weak with the strong.
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