Reactivation of companies declared inactive

We remind you that the GOVERNMENT ORDER (OG) 11 for amending and supplementing the Law no.207/2015 on the Tax Procedure Code and regulating certain tax measures, published in the Official Gazette no. 832/31.08.2021 established that companies declared inactive must be reactivated by ANAF when the measure is suspended in court.

The procedure for applying this rule appeared in the Official Gazette in the form of ANAF Order 1587/2022.

“In the event of suspension of the execution of the decision to declare inactive, ordered by the courts under the provisions of the [Administrative Litigation Act], all effects of the inactivation decision are suspended until its termination and the taxpayer/payer is reactivated during the period of suspension,” provides for GOVERNMENT ORDER 11/2021, which introduced this new rule into the Tax Procedure Code on 3 September 2021.

Please note that ANAF Order 1.587/2022 applies from 8 September 2022.

“To this end, it is necessary to establish the procedural flow for the reactivation of the taxpayer/payer during the period of suspension of the execution of the decision of declaration of inactivity, the way of suspending the effects produced by the declaration of tax inactivity, the procedure for the application of court judgments on the date of the legal termination of the suspension of the execution of the decision of declaration of inactivity and the effects that are produced, as well as the procedure for the implementation of final court decisions and the effects that are produced”, according to the approval report that accompanied the order in its draft form.

 

According to the new regulations, the procedure refers to four distinct situations, namely:

  • The Court ordered the suspension of the execution of the decision to declare the company inactive. Within three days of the court decision, the authorities start the internal procedure to reactivate the taxpayer. And within five working days from the receipt of the decision, the authorities enter in thespecial register the mention of reactivation (valid from the date of the court decision). Also, if the declaration of inactivity has led to the cancellation of the taxpayer’s VAT code, the tax authorities reactivate it (unless there is another reason why the VAT code should remain cancelled). Reactivation is established from the date of the court decision and is maintained as long as the execution of the decision of declaration of inactivity is suspended.
  • The taxpayer does not apply in time for the cancellation of the decision to declare inactive after having obtained its suspension. According to the procedure, if the suspension of the declaration of inactivity decision has been obtained, but the company does not take steps to request the cancellation of the decision within 60 days, the suspension automatically ends. In such a situation, the tax authorities start to take steps so that, from the date on which the suspension of the suspension of the decision to declare the company inactive automatically ends, the taxpayer is inactivated again and the VAT code is cancelled again.
  • The Court orders the annulment of the decision to declare the company inactive. If the company requests the cancellation of the decision to declare the taxpayer inactive and obtains a court ruling to this effect, the tax authorities take the necessary steps to keep the taxpayer active in the special register. The validity of the VAT code is also maintained. Of course, in this case the tax authorities will first check whether there is another reason for cancelling the VAT code
  • The Court orders that the decision to declare the company inactive is maintained. If the court decides that the declaration of inactivity is justified, the measure is maintained. Thus, the taxpayer is reinstated in inactive status from the date of the final decision. More specifically, within three days of the court’s ruling, the authorities start the internal procedures for inactivation, which are completed within five working days of the court’s ruling. At the same time, the taxpayer’s VAT code is cancelled again.

It should be noted that in the event of a declaration of inactivity, the VAT code of the company is cancelled