SAF-T represents standard audit file for tax, basically a tax return containing the main transactions incurred by a company. It is an international standard, a harmonised XML schema for electronic exchange of reliable accounting data from organisations to the national tax authority, defined by the OECD. The first version of the SAF-T guidance was published by the OECD Committee on Fiscal Affairs in May 2005 and the first country which adopted the standard was Portugal in 2008. Since then the standard has spread to other European countries, e.g. Austria, Luxembourg, Germany, France and also the Hungarian tax authority is working on its own version of SAF-T data reporting.
SAF-T in Romania in two phases
From 1 January 2022 SAF-T is also rolled out in Romania. First, only large taxpayers had to declare SAF-T in Romania through mandatory monthly filings, but from 1 January 2023 also medium sized taxpayers have to submit SAF-T on monthly basis. The rest of taxpayers, including small taxpayers and non-resident companies registered only for VAT purposes in Romania, will submit SAF-T from 1 January 2025. The obligation applies to all Romanian and foreign companies with a presence in the country registered for tax purposes in Romania.
Content of SAF-T reports
Generally, among others, data reports submitted to the National Tax Administration Agency (ANAF) within the system of SAF-T in Romania must contain the following:
1. The master files section contains subsections for more information, such as:
- accounting accounts / journal register
- customers (identification data, analytical account, initial and final balance debtor / creditor)
- suppliers (identification data, analytical account, initial and final balance debtor / creditor)
- tax table (specific tax information)
- table of units of measurement
- table of types of analysis (information on the structure of the taxpayer’s cost centers)
- table of types of movements
- products
- stocks
- owners (details regarding stock owners)
- assets
2. Accounting records / Journal Register: information on accounting records, at transaction level, including analytical accounting accounts.
3. Source documents: information about source documents such as:
- sales invoices
- purchase invoices
- payments
- movements of goods
- asset transactions
Reporting periods for SAF-T in Romania
The submission terms for SAF-T in Romania are monthly or quarterly, depending on the VAT fiscal period. Companies submitting SAF-T on monthly basis have a grace period of six months for the first return, five months for the second return, etc.
Information regarding section “Assets” will be submitted annually, at the date when the financial statements are submitted, whilst information of section “Stocks” are submitted upon the request of the tax authorities.
If you would like to know more about the SAF-T in Romania or if you have any tax related question in the country, please visit the homepage of Ensight, the exclusive representative of WTS Global in Romania.
