New transfer pricing rules: large taxpayers will be required to submit transfer pricing documentation to ANAF annually

• The threshold for intra-group services will decrease from  €250,000 to €100,000 for large taxpayers.
• Large taxpayers will be required to submit the transfer pricing report through the Virtual Private Space (SPV).
• Taxpayers will be required to include in the transfer pricing file a declaration on their own responsibility confirming the authenticity and accuracy of the information provided.
• Companies will be required to provide more robust documentation for their benchmarking analyses and the economic rationale behind intra-group transactions.

One of the most significant changes concerns large taxpayers, who will be required to submit their transfer pricing documentation to ANAF annually via the Virtual Private Space (SPV), within 30 business days of the deadline for filing the annual corporate income tax return.

In practice, this new requirement will mean incorporating the preparation of transfer pricing documentation into the annual financial and tax reporting cycle, as the process involves gathering a significant amount of information from multiple areas across the organisation.

Liviu Gheorghiu, Tax Partner, Forvis Mazars in Romania: “For large taxpayers, the key change is that transfer pricing documentation will effectively become part of the annual tax compliance calendar. If the transfer pricing file is not submitted by the deadline, it will have to be provided, in the event of a tax audit, within a maximum of five business days from the date of the authorities’ request, which means that the documentation must be made available within a very short timeframe. For medium-sized and small taxpayers, transfer pricing documentation will continue to be submitted at ANAF’s request as part of a tax audit, with a deadline of between 30 and 60 days. Against this backdrop, and given the greater level of detail required under the new rules, preparing the documentation well in advance and embedding the process into internal reporting procedures will become increasingly important”.

Materiality thresholds are changing

For large taxpayers, the threshold for services will decrease from €250,000 to €100,000, while the threshold applicable to transactions involving intangible assets will be reduced from €350,000 to €250,000. The thresholds for financing and interest, as well as for tangible assets, remain unchanged.

The reduction of these thresholds may bring a larger number of transactions within the scope of transfer pricing documentation requirements, particularly intragroup services and transactions involving intangible assets.

For medium-sized and small taxpayers, the changes move in the opposite direction for certain transaction categories. The threshold for financing and interest will increase from €50,000 to €100,000, the threshold for intangible assets from €100,000 to €150,000, and the threshold for tangible assets from €100,000 to €200,000. The threshold for services remains unchanged at €50,000.

The thresholds are assessed separately for each affiliated party and each transaction category, excluding VAT.

New rules place greater emphasis on documentation quality

Order No. 828/2026 expands the level of detail required in transfer pricing documentation and provides clearer guidance on the elements that must be included for the file to be considered complete.

Among the new requirements are descriptions of the activities performed by the company’s departments, details on strategic management functions, justification of the functional profile of the entities involved and the selection of the tested party, as well as information on the cost bases used and any comparability adjustments applied.

The transfer pricing file will be considered incomplete if it lacks essential information relating to the transactions and supporting contractual documentation, the functional analysis, the justification for the transfer pricing method applied, the comparability analysis, or the financial and economic information used to determine profitability indicators.

In addition, the file must include detailed information on the structure of the cost base used to calculate the profitability indicator applied in testing a transaction, including the expenses included in or excluded from the cost base.

Where the tested party is not the taxpayer that is the subject of the transfer pricing file, the taxpayer may provide, in addition to details regarding the profitability calculation, a supplementary report prepared by an authorised independent auditor certifying the accuracy of the calculation.

Another notable change is the obligation to include in the file a taxpayer’s declaration, made under its own responsibility, confirming the accuracy and completeness of the information provided.

Comparability studies will require more robust documentation

The new provisions also place greater emphasis on the benchmarking studies used to determine the arm’s length range. The recommended period to be covered by such studies is three years, and companies will be required to document the search strategy and criteria applied, as well as the comparables selected and rejected and the reasons underlying these decisions.

Where the tested party in a transaction analysis is not a Romanian tax resident, the comparability analysis must initially be performed using comparable companies identified both in the tested party’s jurisdiction of tax residence and in the Romanian market.

Companies should start preparing early for the new requirements

Given that the new rules will apply to transactions carried out from 2026 onwards, both large taxpayers and medium-sized and small taxpayers should begin assessing their impact well in advance. This assessment should cover not only transactions that will fall within the scope of the new materiality thresholds, but also the availability of the information required to support functional and economic analyses.

“From a practical perspective, companies should review their internal processes for collecting the data required for transfer pricing documentation and plan ahead for the preparation of economic analyses and comparability studies. Particular attention should be paid to transactions with non-resident related parties where the related party is the tested party, as is generally the case with intra-group services received, given the new requirements regarding the preparation of benchmarking studies and the documentation of the profitability indicator at the level of the related party. Identifying the necessary information at an early stage can facilitate the preparation of the documentation and highlight any information gaps that need to be addressed”, explains Gabriela Roman, Senior Tax Manager, Forvis Mazars in Romania.

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Emilia Popa, Head of Marketing, Communication, and Business Development,

Forvis Mazars in CEE & in Romania
emilia.popa@forvismazars.com  / +4 0741 111 042

Mădălina Lazăr, PR & Corporate Communication Manager, Forvis Mazars in Romania
madalina.lazar@forvismazars.com  / +4 0763 385 622