Having the transfer file prepared
If the purchase is going ahead, we prepare the transfer file and name the lawyer's and the filer's steps.
ANAF Tax Certificate in Romania: What It Shows and Who Can Ask for It
The document where ANAF lists a company's arrears, seen by someone buying an existing SRL.
> The ANAF tax certificate (certificat de atestare fiscală) is a document from ANAF, the central tax body. It lists the overdue tax obligations and other enforceable budget claims ANAF has recorded on a taxpayer. It is not a tax residence certificate or a cazier fiscal. A certificate with arrears on it is still a valid certificate.
What is the ANAF tax certificate?
ANAF (Agenția Națională de Administrare Fiscală, the National Tax Administration Agency) issues the certificat de atestare fiscală through its competent central tax body (organul fiscal central). It issues the certificate at the taxpayer's request. It also issues it on its own initiative (ex officio), or at the request of other public authorities (art. 158(1) of the Fiscal Procedure Code).
It lists the overdue tax obligations and other enforceable budget claims held in ANAF's own record of tax claims (art. 158(2)). It is a statement of what is recorded, not a clearance. The market's phrase "tax clearance certificate" suggests a clean bill, but the statute prescribes a list. A certificate with arrears on it is still a certificate.
The full procedure is on the detailed share transfers page. A buyer reads the certificate first. Since the 2025 rule, a guarantee is measured against it: art. V of Law 239/2025 sets a guarantee to cover the arrears shown on the certificate.
Is it the same as the tax residence certificate or the cazier fiscal?
Four documents share the word "certificate". Only the first lists a company's arrears.
The ANAF tax certificate
Lists a taxpayer's overdue tax obligations and other enforceable budget claims. The request sits on ANAF's list of forms (OPANAF 3654/2015).
The cazier fiscal
A person's tax record. It is a separate request on the same list of forms (OPANAF 2594/2015), not a statement of a company's arrears.
The tax residence certificate
A separate request for resident legal persons (OMFP 583/2016) on the same list. Our reading is that it does not list arrears.
The certificat constatator
The ONRC extract of the data entered in the trade register (art. 11(1) Law 265/2022, 2022 text). A trade-register document, not a tax one.
What does the certificate list, and what does it leave out?
The ordinary certificate lists the arrears in the balance on the last day of the month before the request. It lists only those still unpaid at issue (art. 158(2)). The transfer certificate of the draft order uses another date, explained further down.
| Entry | On the ANAF tax certificate? | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Overdue tax obligations in ANAF's record | Listed: the balance on the last day of the month before the request, not extinguished by the date of issue | Art. 158(2) |
| Other budget claims set out in enforceable titles | Listed, where held in ANAF's record for recovery | Art. 158(2) |
| Tax not yet due | Not an overdue obligation, so not listed (our analysis) | Art. 158(2) |
| Tax not yet recorded as a claim | Cannot appear: the certificate is issued from ANAF's record of tax claims (our analysis) | Art. 158(2) |
| Tax a later audit assesses | Not covered: ANAF may assess for 5 years from 1 July of the year after the one the obligation relates to, and for 10 years where the claim results from a criminal offence | Art. 110(1) to (3) |
| Local taxes | Not listed: a separate certificate from the local tax body | Art. 159 |
| Debts to private creditors | Not tax claims, so not on a tax certificate (our analysis) | Art. 158(2) |
Who can request the certificate, and on what form?
Whoever asks files the request themselves, or through a CECCAR accountant or a lawyer acting for them. Assistance before the tax bodies is tax consultancy (art. 3(1)(e) OG 71/2001). We prepare the file and coordinate. We do not file with ANAF.
The company
The taxpayer asks, and ANAF's competent central tax body issues the certificate (art. 158(1)).
A holder of shares
Any person holding shares in a company may ask (art. 158(1)). Our reading is that the seller may therefore ask in their own right while still a shareholder.
A third party
A prospective buyer or their adviser needs the taxpayer's express and unequivocal consent (consimțământ expres și neechivoc), under art. 160(1).
The seller or the buyer
For a share transfer, art. V(2) of Law 239/2025 lets the seller (cedent) or the buyer (cesionar) ask. No text we read says whether this works before signing.
The form and the sample
ANAF's list of forms carries the request (OPANAF 3654/2015) and the certificate model (OPANAF 6942/2024). We have not read either, so this page shows no layout.
Online and attachments
We have not read whether a company can file online, or which attachments the request needs. This page therefore describes no online route and no field list.
How long does ANAF take, how long does the certificate last and what does it cost?
For a company, ANAF issues the certificate in at most 3 working days from the filing of the request. The interested person may use it for up to 30 days from issue (art. 158(5)). The 2016 text gave the same terms. The 90-day period belongs to individuals without an independent activity, not to companies.
During the period of use, the taxpayer may show the certificate to any requester, such as a buyer, a bank or a lawyer. It may be shown in original or as a legalised copy. A company under audit may ask for the certificate in order to be struck off a register. It gets it within 5 working days of the assessment decision (art. 158(6)).
The state charges nothing. Certificates issued by the tax bodies are exempt from extrajudicial stamp duty (art. 344). That covers the tax-office certificate only. It never covers a lawyer, a guarantee or the ONRC filing.
law a term set by law
ANAF certificate
- 1
The request is filed
- 2
ANAF issues the certificate
- law at most 3 working days
- 3
The certificate may be used
- law up to 30 days from issue
The arrears shown are the balance on the last day of the month before the request that is still unpaid at issue.
local-tax certificate
- 4
The local-tax certificate is issued
- law at most 2 working days
- 5
The local-tax certificate is valid
- law 30 days
Do you also need the local-tax certificate?
The two certificates differ in issuer, term and content. Neither replaces the other. The local-tax certificate is a second, separate document of a purchase, issued under art. 159.
| Attribute | ANAF tax certificate | Local-tax certificate |
|---|---|---|
| Issuer | The central tax body, ANAF's competent office | The local tax body (organul fiscal local) |
| Basis | Art. 158 of the Fiscal Procedure Code | Art. 159 |
| Who may ask | The taxpayer; any holder of shares; a third party with the taxpayer's express and unequivocal consent; for a share transfer also the seller or the buyer | The taxpayer, on request |
| Term | At most 3 working days from the filing of the request | At most 2 working days from the request |
| Period of use | Up to 30 days from issue, for a company | Valid 30 days from issue |
| What it lists | Overdue tax obligations (balance on the last day of the month before the request, unpaid at issue) and other enforceable budget claims in ANAF's record | Overdue local obligations and, as the case may be, those falling due by the first day of the month after the request |
| Shown to | Any requester, in original or as a legalised copy | Any requester, in original or as a legalised copy |
| State charge | None: exempt from extrajudicial stamp duty (art. 344) | This guide states none; art. 344 is applied here to the ANAF certificate only |
Reading the seller's certificates before you sign?
Send us the seller's certificates and the company's tax code. We read them with you, with the register checks, before the deed.
What can you check without the company's consent?
A buyer can run these lookups before any request, each with its limit. For what the inactive status costs, see what an inactive company costs its buyer and how it is reactivated.
- ANAF's register of inactive taxpayers is public, so the inactive status can be checked there.
- ANAF's public arrears list, provided for in art. 162(1), shows arrears at a stated date.
- It shows only totals above a threshold (100,000 lei for the other legal-person debtors). Absence from it says nothing about smaller debts.
- The company's CUI is the lookup key: see how the J number, the CUI and the EUID of a Romanian company are formed.
- The certificat constatator shows registered data only, not tax: see searching the Romanian company register.
- Anything on the company's own tax position beyond these public lists needs its express and unequivocal consent (art. 160(1)).
What does the 2025 share-transfer rule do with the certificate?
Since OUG 13/2026 (Monitorul Oficial no. 181 of 9 March 2026), art. V of Law 239/2025 covers the transfer of the shares of any SRL member. Within 15 days of the transfer, the seller, the buyer or the company notifies ANAF of the deed and the updated constitutive act. From 18 December 2025 to 8 March 2026, only a transfer of a controlling stake was covered.
If the company has arrears in ANAF's record, the company or the buyer posts a guarantee under art. 211(a)-(b) to cover the arrears on the certificate. The guarantee is one of these: cash deposited at a State Treasury unit, a bank letter of guarantee, or an insurer's guarantee policy. Proof of ANAF's agreement is shown at ONRC.
ONRC checks these conditions when it registers the transfer. It requests the certificate from ANAF itself, through the PatrimVen system (art. 70^1). If the arrears on the certificate are not extinguished 60 days after the registration, ANAF executes the guarantee. Once they are extinguished, ANAF releases it (art. V(4)).
Which parts of the transfer procedure are still only a draft?
The joint order of the Ministry of Justice and ANAF exists (Monitorul Oficial Part I no. 855 of 12 October 2026). We have not read its text. The four points below come from the draft of 2 July 2026 and may differ.
The certificate after the notification
Per the draft of July 2026, ANAF issues a certificate within 3 working days of the notification. It sends it to the company, the seller or the buyer.
The balance on the date of issue
Per the draft of July 2026, this transfer certificate lists the arrears in the balance on the date of issue, not on the last day of the previous month.
No arrears, no guarantee
Per the draft of July 2026, if the certificate lists no arrears, the guarantee condition is deemed met. ONRC then decides without ANAF's agreement on guarantees.
Arrears and new arrears
Per the draft of July 2026, with arrears, registration depends on ANAF's agreement. New arrears arising before ONRC's certificate are guaranteed or paid.
In what order do the certificates, the notification and the ONRC filing fall?
Day 0 is the date of the deed. The terms are statutory. The order of steps 1 to 4 is the order this guide suggests, not a legal requirement. None of it is a time promise of ours. The draft's points stay in the section above.
Ask for the ANAF certificate before signing
The company asks. The seller may ask as a shareholder (our reading), and the buyer may ask with the company's consent. Issue takes at most 3 working days. Use runs up to 30 days.
Ask the company for the local-tax certificate
It is issued in at most 2 working days and is valid for 30 days (art. 159(3)).
Read both against the company's filings
Arrears decide whether a guarantee will be needed. What a clean certificate cannot show belongs in the warranties of the deed, with the other checks on buying an existing Romanian business.
A Bar-registered lawyer drafts the deed
The lawyer also drafts the resolution and the updated constitutive act (art. 3(1)(c) Law 51/1995). The parties sign. No notary is required (art. 204(2) Law 31/1990).
Notify ANAF within 15 days of the transfer
The company, the seller or the buyer does it, or a CECCAR accountant or a lawyer acting for them. We prepare the file (art. V(1)(a)).
Only with arrears: the guarantee
The company or the buyer posts it and ANAF agrees. No text we read sets a term for that agreement.
File the change (mențiune) at ONRC within 15 days of the act [art. 43(1
Law 265/2022](https://www.senat.ro/legis/PDF/2021/21L564LP.pdf?nocache=true), 2022 text). The registrar decides within one working day of registering the application (art. 105(1)). ONRC requests the certificate itself.
After registration
Arrears unpaid at 60 days mean the guarantee is executed. If they are paid, it is released. Where the company is to sit in a group, see a holding structure through a Romanian company.
Related guide
The next obligation after a transfer has its own guide.
law a term set by law law (2022 text) a term of the 2022 text of Law 265/2022 draft per the draft of July 2026
before day 0
- 1
The ANAF certificate
- law at most 3 working days to issue
- law up to 30 days of use
- 2
The local-tax certificate
- law at most 2 working days
- law valid 30 days
day 0
- 3
The date of the deed
after day 0
- 4
Notification to ANAF
- law within 15 days of the transfer
- 5
The certificate under the draft
- draft 3 working days after the notification
- draft listing the balance on the date of issue
- 6
ONRC filing
- law within 15 days of the act
- 7
Registrar's decision
- law (2022 text) within one working day of registration of the application
- 8
Guarantee executed
- law if the arrears are unpaid 60 days after registration
Do you become liable for the company's old tax debts?
The company keeps its debts, because its obligations are guaranteed by its assets (art. 3(1) Law 31/1990, text of January 2024). A member of an SRL is liable only up to the subscribed capital (art. 3(3)). Our analysis: the old tax debts therefore stay the company's.
Its administrators can be jointly liable with it where the company has been declared insolvable under the Code. The same goes for any other person. Each must have caused non-declaration or non-payment of tax at its due date in bad faith (art. 25(2)(d) of the Fiscal Procedure Code). The liability is set by a decision issued after they are heard. It covers the principal and accessory obligations of the period in which they held the role (art. 25(5)).
ANAF may assess tax for 5 years from 1 July of the year after the one the obligation relates to. It may assess for 10 years where the claim results from a criminal offence (art. 110). Our analysis: a certificate issued today closes no year inside that window. What it cannot show belongs in the warranties of the deed, which a Bar-registered lawyer drafts.
Sources: the official texts behind this page
Every figure above can be checked at its source. The official texts linked on this page are listed here.
- Fiscal Procedure Code: art. 25, 69, 70^1, 110, 158, 159, 160, 162, 211 and 344, ANAF consolidation to OUG 38/2026.
- Law 239/2025: art. V, the 15-day notification, the guarantee, the proof at ONRC and the enforcement after 60 days.
- OUG 13/2026: art. I, Monitorul Oficial no. 181 of 9 March 2026, the scope of art. V and ONRC's request for the certificate.
- Monitorul Oficial Part I no. 855 of 12 October 2026: the joint order of the Ministry of Justice and ANAF; its text was not read.
- ANAF's list of forms: the request, the certificate model, the cazier fiscal and the tax residence requests.
- ANAF's public arrears list: arrears above the published threshold.
- ANAF's register of inactive taxpayers: the inactive status of a company.
- Law 31/1990, the Company Law: art. 3 and 204, text of January 2024.
- Law 265/2022, the trade register law: art. 11, 43 and 105, 2022 text, later amendments not read.
- Law 51/1995 on the legal profession: art. 3(1)(c), drafting legal acts.
- OG 71/2001 on tax consultancy: art. 3(1)(e), assistance before the tax bodies.
The draft order of 2 July 2026 is described on this page as a draft and is not linked.
Frequently asked questions
What is the ANAF tax certificate?
The certificat de atestare fiscală is ANAF's statement of the overdue tax obligations and other enforceable budget claims it holds on a taxpayer. ANAF builds it from its own record of tax claims. It is not a clearance, because it can list arrears. The law prescribes a list, never a statement that the company owes nothing.
What is ANAF in Romania?
Agenția Națională de Administrare Fiscală, the National Tax Administration Agency. Its competent office, the central tax body, issues the certificate and receives the 15-day notification of a share transfer. ANAF also keeps the public arrears list and the register of inactive taxpayers, both open to anyone to search.
Who can request it for an SRL I am buying?
The company can ask, as taxpayer. Any holder of shares can ask too, so the seller can while they are still a shareholder (our reading). A third party, such as a prospective buyer, needs the company's express and unequivocal consent. For the share transfer, the seller or the buyer can ask under art. V(2) of Law 239/2025.
Can I, as the buyer, get it myself before signing?
Yes, if the company gives its express and unequivocal consent, which is what a third party needs. Art. V(2) of Law 239/2025 also lets the buyer ask for the transfer. No text we read says whether that works before signing. The company, or the seller as a shareholder, can ask in their own right.
How long does ANAF take, and how long is the certificate good for?
For a company, ANAF issues it in at most 3 working days from the filing of the request. It may be used for up to 30 days from issue. Both terms are unchanged for companies since 2016. The 90-day period belongs to individuals without an independent activity, not to companies.
What date are the debts measured at?
The ordinary certificate lists the arrears in the balance on the last day of the month before the request that are still unpaid at issue. The transfer certificate of the draft order uses the balance on the date of issue (per the draft of July 2026). We have not read the adopted order's text.
What does it not show?
Anything not recorded in ANAF's record of tax claims, such as tax not yet due or assessed. It also leaves out whatever a later audit assesses within 5 years from 1 July of the following year, or 10 years where a criminal offence is involved. Local taxes sit on a different certificate, issued by the local tax body.
Is there a state fee?
No. Certificates issued by the tax bodies are exempt from extrajudicial stamp duty (art. 344 of the Fiscal Procedure Code). That covers the tax-office certificate only. A lawyer, a guarantee and the ONRC filing are separate matters, and this page gives no ONRC fee.
Do I also need a local-tax certificate?
It is a separate document from the local tax body, issued within at most 2 working days and valid for 30 days. It covers overdue local taxes and those falling due by the first day of the next month. It neither replaces nor is replaced by the ANAF tax certificate, because the issuer and the content differ.
What does the certificate have to do with the 2025 share-transfer rule?
When the shares of any SRL member are transferred and the company has arrears, the company or the buyer posts a guarantee covering the arrears on the certificate. ONRC requests the certificate itself at registration. ANAF executes the guarantee if the arrears are unpaid 60 days after registration.
If the certificate is clean, is anything to post?
Per the draft of July 2026, the guarantee condition is then deemed met and ONRC decides without ANAF's agreement on guarantees. The 15-day notification to ANAF still applies. We have not read the adopted order's text, so the draft may differ.
Do I become liable for the company's old tax debts?
The company keeps them, because its obligations are guaranteed by its assets, and a member of an SRL is liable only up to the subscribed capital. Once the company is declared insolvable, an administrator who in bad faith caused non-payment is jointly liable, for the period of their own role. This is analysis of the cited texts, not advice.
Can I show the certificate to my bank or lawyer?
Yes, during its period of use, which for a company is up to 30 days from issue. The taxpayer may show it, in original or as a legalised copy, to any requester, such as a buyer, a bank or a lawyer. Whether a foreign bank accepts the Romanian original without a translation is outside the sources we read.
Is it the same as the cazier fiscal or the tax residence certificate?
No. The cazier fiscal (a person's tax record) and the tax residence certificate for resident legal persons are each a separate request on ANAF's list of forms. Our reading is that neither is the certificate that lists a company's arrears. The certificat constatator is the ONRC extract, a trade-register document.
Which form do I use, is there a sample and can I apply online?
ANAF's list of forms carries the request (OPANAF 3654/2015) and the certificate model (OPANAF 6942/2024). We have not read either, nor any online route for a company. This page therefore shows no layout, field list or online step. The current forms are those on ANAF's list.