Romania tax authority ANAF targets corporate luxury purchases and leisure write-offs

Targeting personal luxury on corporate balance sheets

On 1 October 2026, Romania's National Agency for Fiscal Administration (ANAF) announced that it will launch targeted tax audits against companies that purchased luxury goods or financed leisure amenities. The enforcement initiative addresses acquisitions where costs were borne entirely by corporate entities without having a justified relationship to their commercial operations. Fiscal inspectors will examine the operational use of luxury items registered in corporate asset registries to determine whether they generate taxable revenues. In particular, the agency is investigating whether these assets are diverted toward the personal benefit of company shareholders, board administrators, or individuals close to them. Specific scrutiny will fall on leisure developments and residential refurbishments carried out directly at the private homes of company owners and managers. In instances where assets do not serve economic activity, corporate tax legislation prevents the deduction of purchase expenses and bars the recovery of the input value-added tax (VAT).

Digital detection through e-Factura and SAF-T

The upcoming inspection measures are founded on automated risk assessments that correlate data across several mandatory reporting instruments. Tax auditors will evaluate information extracted from periodic tax declarations, D406 Standard Audit File for Tax (SAF-T) submissions, and electronic invoices routed through the national RO e-Factura system. By combining these centralized digital databases, the tax administration can track transaction records generated directly by corporate taxpayers over recent reporting periods. The cross-referencing process allows authorities to detect discrepancies between declared business activities and actual procurement patterns. Inspectors can thereby isolate corporate entries for high-end consumer goods, luxury vehicles, and private recreation amenities that do not align with the standard input needs of the reporting enterprise.

Scope of expense audits and deductions

The audit framework establishes four distinct verification priorities for investigating fiscal compliance. First, inspectors will check whether each luxury acquisition is justified by the official statutory object of activity of the company. Second, teams will examine the legality and accuracy of input VAT deductions claimed on the acquisition costs. Third, the audits will assess operating deductions applied when calculating corporate income tax, specifically evaluating write-offs for asset depreciation, ongoing maintenance, fuel, and repair expenditures. Fourth, ANAF will determine the tax classification of personal advantages provided to partners, administrators, or employees who use company-owned luxury assets for private purposes. Failure to account for these private benefits as taxable income forms a central focus of the review.

Industry exemptions and voluntary rectification

The fiscal authority stressed that luxury purchases do not constitute an automatic indicator of tax irregularities across the entire corporate sector. Companies that operate genuine commercial ventures in sectors including tourism, hospitality services, sports facilities, leisure operations, property leasing, or investment management remain fully entitled to deduct costs associated with their business assets under existing laws. To mitigate administrative exposure, ANAF advised firms that have claimed unjustified VAT deductions or expense write-offs to submit rectifying tax declarations before formal inspection procedures are launched. The tax agency emphasized that voluntary compliance and the early correction of filing errors reduce overall costs compared to the cumulative penalties and tax liabilities assessed following an audit.