Although the obligation to register rental agreements with the National Agency for Fiscal Administration (ANAF) no longer exists since last year (2018), there is still a significant advantage for the landlord who registers the agreement with ANAF.
Pursuant to the Civil Code, an agreement concluded solely between the parties, not authenticated but registered with ANAF, constitutes an enforceable title for the payment of rent, which means that enforcement proceedings can be obtained much more easily.
Starting March 23, 2018, the date on which Government Emergency Ordinance no. 18/2018 entered into force, the obligation for property owners to register rental agreements with the tax authority within 30 days was abolished.
Individuals and/or legal entities who wish to register their agreements for the transfer of use of assets (commonly known as “rental agreements”) for a dwelling, commercial space, or land with the tax authority may still do so.
To register the rental agreement, the lessor — that is, the person renting out the property — must attend an ANAF service counter in person.
It is important to note that, for the time being, registration of the rental agreement can only be done in person at the tax authority’s counter, not online, as specified in ANAF Order no. 114/2019 for the approval of the Procedure for registering lease agreements, as well as the model and content of the “Application for registration of lease agreements” form.
Specifically, the “Application for registration of lease agreements” must be submitted (at the end of this article) together with a copy of the rental agreement.
The copy of the agreement must be certified as conforming to the original, and this certification is done by the lessor themselves, by adding the note “conform cu originalul” (conforms to the original), accompanied by their signature.
The registration application is completed in two copies, one of which remains with the tax authority, while the other is kept by the lessor.
The same application can also be used to register amendments or terminations of the rental agreement, by ticking the “Amendment” or “Termination” boxes, as applicable. In these cases too, the application must be submitted in person at the tax authority’s counter.
It is important to note that there is a distinction between the obligation to register rental agreements and the obligation to declare income obtained under such agreements.
Thus, even if registration of the agreement with ANAF is optional, pursuant to Government Decision no. 354/2018, taxpayers must submit the unified declaration for income obtained from renting: “Taxpayers who obtain income from the transfer of use of assets from their personal estate are required to submit to the competent tax authority a declaration for each source of income, within 30 days of concluding the agreement,” states the regulatory act mentioned above.