Order of the Ministry of Finance (MF) no.1233 for the approval of the Procedure for guiding and assisting taxpayers / payers, granted by the National Agency for Fiscal Administration, and for methodological coordination of the unitary application of fiscal and procedural fiscal legislation carried out by assistance structures taxpayers, as well as in the field of information technology was published in the Official Gazette (Part I) no. 998 of October 19, 2021.
We mention that starting with the date of entry into force of the mentioned normative act, any other contrary provision regarding the guidance and assistance of the taxpayers granted by the central fiscal body ceases its applicability.
The requests of the taxpayers / payers registered prior to the entry into force of this order shall be resolved according to the procedure applicable on the date of registration.
Taxpayer / payer represents any person who addresses requests for guidance and assistance according to this procedure.
We mention that until now, any taxpayer could send a request to solve a fiscal problem directly to the Ministry of Finance (MF), without gradually consulting the other structures of guidance and assistance of taxpayers, as well as to the National Agency for Fiscal Administration (ANAF), this relationship with the two institutions being made on the basis of two distinctly regulated procedures.
Specifically, according to the MF Order 1.233 / 2021, are aimed at harmonizing the procedures of guidance and assistance of taxpayers, granted by ANAF and MF, and methodological coordination of the unitary application of fiscal and procedural-fiscal legislation carried out by taxpayer assistance structures, as well as in the field of information technology.
According to the old rules, the MF issued consolidated views on how to resolve the requests regarding tax issues, submitted by taxpayers. Then, the MF sent these points of view to the General Directorate of Assistance for Taxpayers within ANAF, which has the role of coordinating and guiding the territorial fiscal bodies for the unitary application of the fiscal legislation.
Practically, it ensures, in this way, a unitary approach of the taxpayers’ requests regarding the solution of the fiscal problems and, at the same time, the possibility of issuing and transmitting different points of view or opinions to similar requests is limited.
In order to establish a unique channel for communicating the way of solving the requests addressed by taxpayers to either the central fiscal body or the MF, the new order established the following:
- the scope of the activity of guidance and assistance of the taxpayers by the central fiscal body;
- the categories of information that the central fiscal body is not obliged to provide to taxpayers (such as information that does not fall within its sphere of competence, information whose provision is prohibited, etc.);
- the structures within the central fiscal body that provide guidance and assistance to taxpayers (General Directorate of Assistance for Taxpayers, General Directorate of Administration of Large Taxpayers, Regional General Directorates of Public Finance and their subordinate structures);
- the ways in which the central fiscal body provides guidance and assistance to taxpayers at their request: either directly at the headquarters of the fiscal unit, or in writing, by e-mail, telephone or through the Virtual Private Space;
- the structure to which the taxpayers must address the requests so that they are not considered as erroneously submitted (for example, the coordination of the structures within MF and ANAF regarding the guidance and assistance of taxpayers in the field of information technology is performed, as at present, by the National Center for Financial Information);
– the procedure of gradual consultation of the guidance and assistance structures of the central fiscal body in case the taxpayers consider that the received answers do not clarify the signaled aspects;
– the procedure for solving, by the MF, the requests addressed directly by the taxpayers, without addressing, beforehand, the central fiscal body;
– the procedure for solving, by the MF, the requests addressed by the central fiscal body;
– the obligation of the central fiscal body or of the MF, as the case may be, to notify the taxpayers on the way of solving the requests submitted by them.
The new mechanism for solving the assistance requests aims at improving the fiscal legislation and ensuring the stability and predictability of the legal norms incident in the field, as well as the simplification of the fiscal rules, aspects meant to increase the degree of compliance of taxpayers.