Amendment of the VAT refund procedure

An Order has been published introducing new rules regarding the refund of value added tax ("VAT"). The main amendments brought by this Order are:

• The reimbursement decision will be issued within five days of submitting the VAT return in the following situations:
- The VAT refundable amount is equal to RON 10,000 or lower;
- The VAT returns are considered to be of low fiscal risk;
- The amount requested at reimbursement does not exceed the value of the Negative Individual Standard.

• The conditions for applying the special procedure of VAT reimbursement for exporters was modified as follows:

- The value of the export operations and intra-community supplies should represent 60% of the client's account (previously 75%);
- The minimum value of export operations and intra-community supplies should exceed EUR 500,000 (previously EUR 1,000,000).

• The tax inspection for large and medium taxpayers will be performed within four years of the reimbursement being approved (previously 2 years).

• In cases of annulment of the VAT number, all the negative VAT amounts, irrespective of their value, will be reimbursed in accordance with the general procedure stipulated by the law.

The Order is applicable starting with the VAT returns related to April 2011.
See: Order no. 2017/2011 issued by the Ministry of Public Finance published in the Official Gazette of Romania no. 362/24.05.2011