You received a compliance notice or notice of verification regarding your personal tax situation: how to avoid a huge tax assessment or criminal case

• you have already been flagged as a high fiscal risk based on ANAF’s risk analysis;
• tax inspectors are already looking at the difference between what you declared and what they estimate you actually earned;
• if you do nothing or react chaotically, you can end up with a huge additional tax assessment and, in extreme cases, even with a criminal case for tax evasion or money laundering.

In this article we will walk, step by step, through what these documents mean and how to react in a structured way, together with an avocat verificare situație fiscală personală București and an experienced tax advisor, so that you avoid “diferențe mari între venituri declarate și ANAF” and the nightmare of a tax and criminal double front.

1. The legal background: how ANAF verifies the personal tax situation of individuals

The Romanian Tax Procedure Code</strong (Law No. 207/2015) regulates a special procedure called “verification of the personal tax situation”</strong (verificarea situației fiscale personale) carried out by the central tax authority (ANAF) for individuals, focusing on income tax. This procedure is detailed in Articles 138–147 of the Tax Procedure Code and allows ANAF to look at your overall wealth, lifestyle and cash flows, not only at the income you declared in tax returns.Tax Procedure Code – ANAF, Consolidated text (2023), official portal

According to these rules, ANAF can:

• request information from other public authorities, banks, notaries and other institutions;
• compare information from your tax returns with data from third parties and with changes in your assets (real estate purchases, cars, shares, bank deposits, etc.);
• analyze cash flows in your bank accounts and cash; and
• reconstruct your taxable income using indirect methods (for example, the “source and use of funds” method) whenever there is a significant discrepancy between what you declared and what you seem to have spent or accumulated.

These methods are detailed in OPANAF No. 675/2018</strong] on indirect methods for determining income, as amended by OPANAF No. 417/2023, which explicitly connects the risk analysis, the compliance notice and the verification of the personal tax situation.OPANAF 675/2018, OPANAF 417/2023, ANAF risk analysis note

Good news (if it can be called that): the law states that the personal tax situation can only be verified once per tax year, within the limitation period, which means that the way you handle this verification will have long-term consequences for your fiscal profile.Article 138–140 Tax Procedure Code

2. From risk analysis to compliance notice: why the letter is not “just information”

2.1. Risk analysis: how you end up on ANAF’s radar

Before a human inspector ever looks at your file, ANAF runs a risk analysis on individuals, using data from tax returns, third party reports, financial institutions, notaries, land registers, and even from other EU Member States under the Directive on administrative cooperation in taxation (Directive 2011/16/EU – “DAC”).Directive 2011/16/EU, consolidated text

According to ANAF’s own risk analysis note, a “significant risk” exists when the difference between the income estimated based on these indicators and the income declared is more than 10% of declared income and at least 50,000 RON for the same period.ANAF – Risk analysis note

If you are in this situation, your name ends up on a list of individuals with a high risk of non-compliance. From there, ANAF can either send a compliance notice (notifying you that something seems wrong and inviting you to correct it voluntarily) or move straight to a verification of the personal tax situation, depending on the period and the current law.

2.2. Compliance notice: a preliminary stage, with a very concrete purpose

The compliance notice for individuals (notificarea de conformare ANAF persoană fizică) is explicitly defined by ANAF as a preliminary stage of the verification of the personal tax situation. It is a written notice sent to individuals identified as high risk, informing them that they can review their own tax situation and file or correct tax returns before any verification is opened.ANAF – Compliance notice information note

Practically, the compliance notice usually:

• summarises the risk (for example: “significant differences between declared income and movements in bank accounts”);
• indicates the tax periods and the types of income concerned;
• gives you a time limit (often 30 days) to file or correct tax returns and to send explanations and supporting documents; and
• mentions that, if you do nothing, you may be selected for a formal verification of your personal tax situation.

This document is not “just information”. It is, in essence, a last opportunity to fix things with relatively limited damage, before inspectors reconstruct your income using indirect methods and issue a tax assessment based on their estimates.

3. Notice of verification of the personal tax situation: the procedure formally starts

3.1. The “aviz de verificare a situației fiscale personale”

If the compliance notice stage ends without satisfactory clarification, ANAF can decide to open the formal procedure for verifying your personal tax situation. The starting point is the notice of verification (aviz de verificare a situației fiscale personale), a standard form approved by OPANAF No. 2117/2018 on the forms and documents used in this activity.ANAF – Notice of verification form, OPANAF 2117/2018

The notice of verification must indicate, among others:

• your identification details;
• the tax periods that will be verified (for example, 2018–2022);
• the tax obligations under scrutiny (typically income tax on income from unidentified sources or under-declared income);
• the date, time and place where the initial meeting or discussions will take place; and
• your rights and obligations during the verification.

3.2. Place, duration and the right to assistance

Under the Tax Procedure Code, the verification of the personal tax situation is usually carried out at the tax authority’s premises, but, at your justified request, it may also take place at your domicile or at the office of the professional who assists you (lawyer, tax advisor, accountant). You have the right to be assisted throughout the procedure and to be informed, on an ongoing basis, of the inspectors’ findings.Tax Procedure Code, Articles 140–143

At the same time, the law allows ANAF to:

• request information from banks, brokers, notaries, employers, business partners, and other institutions;
• obtain data from foreign tax authorities, based on EU and international cooperation instruments (especially DAC and its subsequent amendments);
• compare your explanations with information from third parties; and
• impose protective measures (such as security measures on assets) if it considers there is a risk that tax debts will not be recovered.

4. How ANAF calculates the difference between declared and estimated income

4.1. Indirect methods and the “source and use of funds” approach

During the verification, ANAF will reconstruct your taxable income using one or more indirect methods established by OPANAF 675/2018, such as:OPANAF 675/2018

• source and use of funds method – comparing the amounts you had at the beginning of the period + declared income + loans and other legitimate sources with your acquisitions, investments, personal expenses and final wealth;
• net worth method – analysing how your assets and liabilities change from year to year and inferring undeclared income from unexplained increases in wealth;
• cash flow / bank deposits analysis – analysing cash inflows and outflows through your bank accounts and cash balances, including transfers between your own accounts, family members and companies you control.

Here, the famous “diferențe mari între venituri declarate și ANAF” appears: the inspectors quantify the difference between what they estimate you earned (based on assets, spending and cash flows) and what you declared. If the difference is significant, they adjust the taxable base accordingly and calculate additional income tax, interest and penalties.

4.2. Typical sources of differences: where problems usually come from

From a defence perspective, it is extremely important to understand where these differences usually come from. Risk-prone zones include:

• Cash holdings – large amounts of cash kept at home, received years ago (inheritance, donations, sale of assets, older savings) and never documented properly;
• Common accounts and family transfers – joint bank accounts with your spouse or children, informal transfers between family members, payment of your expenses from a relative’s account, without clear documentation of the source of funds;
• Reimbursements of loans between related parties – repayments of loans between you and your own company or between you and relatives, never registered properly or lacking written contracts;
• Crypto-assets and NFTs – trading on foreign exchanges, swapping one token for another, using wallets and platforms that do not issue standard statements, all this without consistent reporting of gains; ANAF has published specific guidance on the taxation of income from NFTs and other crypto-assets;ANAF – current guides (including NFTs)
• Online payment platforms – balances in PayPal, Revolut, Wise, Stripe, etc., which you tend to ignore because “they are not bank accounts”, but which ANAF can analyse based on information from foreign authorities and reporting obligations applicable to payment service providers;
• Foreign accounts and investments – financial accounts abroad, brokerage platforms, custody accounts or real estate abroad, for which information can be obtained under the automatic exchange of information mechanisms in the EU and under the OECD Common Reporting Standard;
• Business-paid personal expenses – expenses paid by your company but actually personal (holidays, cars, luxury items), which can be recharacterised as hidden distributions or undeclared income.

5. Preparing your defence: documents and explanations you should have ready

5.1. Key documents to collect as early as possible

As soon as you receive a compliance notice or a notice of verification, you should assume that every major inflow and outflow in your accounts may be questioned. Together with your accountant and your lawyer, start assembling at least the following categories of documents:

• Identification and fiscal documents
  • ID card, fiscal registration documents if applicable;
  • tax returns for all relevant years (including those for rents, dividends, capital gains, independent activities, crypto, etc.).
• Banking documentation
  • bank statements for all bank accounts in Romania and abroad, including joint accounts;
  • statements for Revolut, PayPal, Wise, trading platforms and other payment services;
  • credit card statements, especially for large expenses.
• Documents for sources of funds
  • loan agreements (even simple written contracts) for loans received from or granted to relatives or companies;
  • loan repayment schedules and proof of transfers;
  • contracts and notarial deeds for the sale of real estate, cars, shares or other assets;
  • documents showing inheritances or donations (certificates of inheritance, donation deeds).
• Documents for investments
  • brokerage statements and transaction reports (stocks, bonds, ETFs, derivatives);
  • crypto exchange reports, transaction history, wallet screenshots, transaction IDs;
  • any documents showing initial investments (fiat deposits into platforms) and withdrawals.
• Documents for income from business or independent activities
  • service agreements, invoices, addenda, and payment proofs;
  • distribution decisions and statements for dividends from companies where you are a shareholder;
  • contracts and payment documents for IP rights, royalties, brand licensing, influencer contracts, etc. – see also your own article on ANAF controls for influencers, creators and streamers.ANAF controls for influencers and creators
• Evidence of personal living expenses and lifestyle
  • major expenses (luxury cars, boats, art, jewellery, private school fees, expensive trips);
  • explanations and documents where these were financed by other persons (for instance, parents paying your children’s tuition fees).

These documents are the raw material from which your accountant and your avocat verificare situație fiscală personală București can reconstruct a coherent story and match every major transaction with a legitimate, documented source.

5.2. How to structure explanations for ANAF

Sending a “dump” of hundreds of unstructured documents to ANAF is a classic mistake. Instead, your defence should be organised in a way that mirrors the inspectors’ methodology. A practical approach:

• start from the main differences identified or suspected by ANAF (for example: “unexplained cash deposits of 400,000 RON in 2021”);
• for each difference, prepare a concise written explanation (one or two pages) in which you:
  • describe the transaction or set of transactions (for example: reimbursement of a loan granted to your company in previous years);
  • indicate the legal basis (for example: loan agreement dated DD.MM.YYYY, article … of the Fiscal Code on non-taxable reimbursement of loans);
  • attach and list the supporting documents (contracts, bank statements, notarial deeds, previous tax returns, etc.);
  • explain why the amount is not taxable income (or, if part of it should be taxable, how you propose to correct the situation).
• group explanations by categories (loans, donations, inheritance, asset sales, crypto, foreign investments), so that the inspector can follow the reasoning step by step.

This is also the phase where you review, together with your advisors, whether it is strategically better to correct certain tax returns (thus limiting interest and penalties) or to defend the initial treatment entirely.

6. Frequent mistakes that turn a tax problem into a disaster

Based on practice in tax and economic criminal cases, several patterns appear again and again. Among the most dangerous mistakes:

• Ignoring the compliance notice
  • believing that “it’s just information” and doing nothing for 30 days;
  • thus losing a chance to adjust your situation before a formal verification starts.
• Discussing substantive issues over the phone or informally
  • giving explanations over the phone without having all the facts and documents in front of you;
  • making statements that later appear inconsistent with documents or with explanations given in writing or in the verification report.
• Sending disorganised documents
  • emailing dozens of attachments with no index, no clear connection to the differences identified by ANAF;
  • hoping that “they will figure it out”, when in fact the burden of proof is shared and you are expected to cooperate effectively.
• Mixing personal and business accounts
  • using company accounts for personal expenses and treating company funds as if they were your own wallet;
  • which can not only create additional tax liabilities (hidden distributions, benefits in kind) but also strengthen the suspicion of tax evasion.
• Underestimating the criminal risk
  • treating the entire process as “just tax”, when in reality the verification findings can be sent to the criminal investigation bodies in cases of suspected tax evasion or money laundering;
  • continuing to structure transactions or cash flows in an opaque way, even after receiving ANAF notifications.
• Acting without coordination between your advisors
  • your accountant, tax advisor and lawyer each communicate separately with ANAF, sometimes sending mixed messages;
  • the tax strategy (what you accept, what you contest) is not aligned with the criminal defence strategy in case a file is opened by the prosecutors.

7. The verification report and the tax assessment: how to react

7.1. The verification report and the discussion of findings

At the end of the verification, inspectors prepare a verification report (raport de verificare fiscală) summarising the data analysed, the methods used and the differences found between declared and estimated income. The form and content of this report are regulated by OPANAF 2117/2018 and subsequent amendments.Verification report form

Before issuing the final tax assessment (or, in some cases, at the same time), ANAF should give you the opportunity to discuss the findings (the so-called “final discussion”), where you and your advisors can:

• clarify misunderstandings or factual errors;
• submit additional documents or explanations;
• record your disagreements formally, so that they are reflected in the report and can be raised later in administrative and judicial proceedings.

It is essential that you attend this discussion assisted by a lawyer and a tax expert, because what is said or not said at this stage can weigh heavily later in the tax complaint and in court.

7.2. The tax assessment decision and the 45-day deadline

Following the verification report, ANAF issues a tax assessment decision (decizie de impunere privind impozitul pe venit stabilit suplimentar în cadrul verificării situației fiscale personale). According to the standard form and the Tax Procedure Code, you generally have 45 days from communication to file a tax complaint (contestație) with the issuing authority, failing which you lose this administrative remedy.OPANAF 2117/2018 – forms, Tax Procedure Code – Articles 268–270

This is where the link with your more general strategy regarding ANAF and fiscal litigation becomes critical. For a detailed guide on challenging tax assessment decisions, see your dedicated article “Contestarea deciziilor de impunere și a altor acte ANAF: strategii de apărare înainte de a ajunge în instanță”.

8. Tax complaint and future court proceedings: how the two levels interact

8.1. Administrative complaint (contestație)

The tax complaint is mandatory before going to court. In this stage, you can:

• challenge both legal issues (for example, wrong interpretation of the law, wrong application of indirect methods) and factual issues (for example, ignoring certain documents, incorrect calculations);
• file new documents and explanations that you were not able to submit during the verification, within the legal limits;
• argue that ANAF misapplied OPANAF 675/2018 or did not properly explain the method used – something that also has been criticised in some published ANAF decisions on tax complaints.

The complaint is examined by a different internal structure in ANAF (not by the initial inspectors), which can uphold, amend or annul the tax assessment.

8.2. Court proceedings in administrative tax litigation

If the administrative complaint is rejected fully or partially, you can file a court action in administrative-tax litigation before the competent tribunal. The court will examine both legal and factual aspects and can also order expert reports (for instance, forensic accounting) to verify ANAF’s calculations.

Here, your case will be considerably stronger if, from the beginning, your reaction to the compliance notice and to the verification was coordinated and well documented. For a broader perspective on tax controls and enforcement, see also:

• Controlul fiscal ANAF: ce verifică inspectorii, care sunt drepturile tale și cum te pregătești;
• Poprirea pe conturi și executarea silită fiscală: ce poate face ANAF și ce poți contesta;
• Sechestru penal vs sechestru și poprire ANAF: cum îți deblochezi conturile și bunurile când ești prins între dosarul penal și executarea fiscală.

9. When does the criminal component appear and why coordination is critical

9.1. From tax differences to suspicions of tax evasion and money laundering

Large unexplained differences between declared and estimated income, especially when combined with complex cash flows (multiple accounts, companies, foreign structures, crypto), can raise suspicions of:

• tax evasion – for example, where income was deliberately not declared or declared under a misleading form; and/or
• money laundering – where financial operations appear to have the purpose of hiding or disguising the criminal origin of funds.

At EU level, Directive (EU) 2018/1673 on combating money laundering by criminal law ensures that Member States criminalise money laundering with effective penalties and facilitates cross-border cooperation between authorities.Directive (EU) 2018/1673 – consolidated text

In practice, ANAF can send the verification report and supporting documents to the prosecution bodies if it considers that the facts may constitute tax evasion or money laundering offences. At the same time, the criminal investigation bodies can request the tax authority to perform a verification of the personal tax situation in order to quantify the fiscal impact of the alleged offences.

9.2. Ne bis in idem and the risk of “double punishment”

In economic cases involving tax and criminal components, the principle ne bis in idem (no double punishment for the same facts) plays an increasingly important role at European and national level. For a detailed analysis of how parallel tax and criminal proceedings interact in the context of tax evasion, see your article “Ne bis in idem în materia evaziunii fiscale: când te pot sancționa și ANAF, și procurorul pentru aceeași faptă”.

The key message: tax strategy and criminal defence must be designed together. Accepting certain fiscal adjustments may have implications for the criminal case (and vice versa), and your lawyers (tax and criminal) must coordinate tightly.

10. Why working with a specialised lawyer and expert accountant in Bucharest matters

Verification of the personal tax situation for individuals is no longer a marginal, rare procedure. ANAF’s public reports show a growing focus on high-net-worth individuals and complex income sources, with the use of indirect methods and international information exchange instruments.Performance reports mentioning personal tax situation verifications

For you, this means that:

• a “do it yourself” approach is extremely risky, even if you are otherwise financially sophisticated;
• having an avocat verificare situație fiscală personală București who understands both the tax procedure and the criminal risks is a practical necessity, not a luxury; and
• your accountant or tax advisor must be ready to work in tandem with the lawyer, providing the technical calculations and documentation needed to support the legal arguments.

Beyond this article, you can also review your own practice area presentation on tax law and fiscal litigation to understand in detail how legal representation can help in this type of disputes: services in tax law and fiscal litigation.

FAQ – questions you should clarify as soon as you receive a compliance notice or a notice of verification

1. What happens if I ignore the compliance notice from ANAF?

If you ignore the compliance notice, ANAF will generally treat this as a sign that you are not willing to voluntarily correct your tax situation and can move to the next stage: selecting you for a formal verification of your personal tax situation. You then lose the opportunity to fix things in a relatively flexible framework and risk a much tougher approach based on indirect methods.

2. Can I correct my tax returns and still contest the future tax assessment?

Yes. In many situations, it is strategically preferable to correct clearly incorrect returns (for example, obvious omissions) in order to reduce exposure to interest and penalties, while at the same time preparing to challenge any excessive or unfounded adjustments made by ANAF in the tax assessment. Payment or partial payment does not automatically mean that you accept the assessment in full.

3. Is the verification of my personal tax situation the same as a classic tax inspection?

No. The verification of the personal tax situation is a special procedure focused on individuals and income tax, based on Articles 138–147 of the Tax Procedure Code. It allows ANAF to look at your entire wealth and cash flows, not only at the data in tax returns, and to use indirect methods to reconstruct income. It is more intrusive and more complex than many classic inspections.

4. How long does the verification of the personal tax situation last?

The law does not impose a single fixed duration, but the verification must take place within the limitation period and the deadlines indicated in the notice of verification. In practice, complex cases can last many months, depending on the volume of data and the number of requests to banks, other authorities or foreign tax administrations.

5. Do I have to be physically present at every meeting with ANAF?

You have the right to be assisted by a lawyer and a tax advisor and, in many cases, they can attend meetings and handle correspondence in your place, based on a power of attorney. However, for certain explanations (especially those linked to your personal lifestyle or informal arrangements in the family), your direct involvement can be useful, carefully prepared with your advisors.

6. Can I pay and at the same time contest the tax assessment?

Yes. The Romanian system allows you to file a tax complaint within 45 days of communication even if you have already paid, fully or partially, the amounts assessed. In some cases, partial payment may limit the accumulation of interest or avoid immediate enforcement measures, while you continue to fight the assessment administratively and in court.

7. When should I contact a lawyer specialised in personal tax situation verifications?

Ideally, you should contact an avocat verificare situație fiscală personală București as soon as you receive the compliance notice. This is the phase where you can still correct many things without the pressure of a formal verification and without a draft tax assessment on the table. Waiting until after the final assessment (or, worse, after the opening of a criminal case) significantly reduces your room for manoeuvre.