Romania adopts significant changes to its transfer pricing framework

The National Authority for Fiscal Administration (“NAFA”) introduces mandatory annual transfer pricing report submission for large taxpayers, expanded documentation requirements and stricter evidentiary requirements.

Published on 2 July 2026, NAFA Order 828/2026 introduces new transaction thresholds, preparation deadlines, content and submission requirements for transfer pricing report, as well as the procedure for transfer pricing adjustments and estimations. The new rules represent the most significant reform of the Romanian transfer pricing documentation framework since their introduction in 2016.

Key takeaways

• NAFA Order 828/2026 officially replaces the transfer pricing documentation framework introduced a decade ago, with the aim of further aligning Romanian transfer pricing requirements with the OECD Transfer Pricing Guidelines.
• The new regulations apply to transactions carried out starting from 1 January 2026, while the procedural provisions will apply to tax administration procedures initiated after 1 January 2027.
• Romanian large taxpayers are now required to electronically submit the transfer pricing report, signed by the legal representative, through the Private Virtual Space.
• The new rules also revise the materiality thresholds for each category of taxpayers.
• The content of the transfer pricing report has been substantially expanded, including new requirements regarding functional analysis profiles of the parties to the analysed transactions, business restructurings, tested party selection, and comparability analyses.
• A new mandatory reporting Annex introduces a standardized disclosure of related-party transactions and year-end transfer pricing adjustments.

Annual filing obligation for large taxpayers

Large taxpayers meeting the new applicable materiality thresholds must prepare the transfer pricing report on an annual basis by the statutory deadline for filing the corporate income tax return. A new requirement introduced by the said Order is the mandatory electronic submission of the transfer pricing report through the Private Virtual Space (Romanian ‘SPV’), signed by the legal representative or an authorized representative, within 30 working days after the corporate income tax return filing deadline.

Where the transfer pricing report is not submitted through the SPV, the tax authorities may request it during a tax audit. In such cases, the report must be provided within a maximum of 5 working days from the request date.

The annual transfer pricing report preparation obligation applies only where the value of the transactions falling within a particular category exceeds the relevant materiality threshold for a specific related party. The materiality thresholds are assessed separately for each related party and each individual transaction category and are as follows*:

• EUR 100,000 for services transactions;
• EUR 200,000 for financing transactions generating interest income or expenses;
• EUR 250,000 for transactions involving intangible assets, including royalty-related transactions; and
• EUR 350,000 for transactions involving tangible assets.

*(VAT excluded)

Requirements for small and medium taxpayers

Unlike large taxpayers and similar with the previous rules, small and medium-sized taxpayers are not subject to an annual transfer pricing report preparation and filing requirement. Instead, transfer pricing report must be prepared and submitted only upon request of the tax authorities during a tax audit. The report must be provided within 30 to 60 working days from the date of the request, with the possibility of a one-time extension of up to 30 additional working days upon a justified request.

For small and medium-sized taxpayers, the materiality thresholds are assessed separately for each related party and each individual transaction category and are as follows*:

• EUR 50,000 for services transactions;
• EUR 100,000 for financing transactions generating interest income or expenses;
• EUR 150,000 for transactions involving intangible assets, including royalty-related transactions; and
• EUR 200,000 for transactions involving tangible assets.

 *(VAT excluded)

Taxpayers with related-party transactions not exceeding the applicable materiality thresholds are not required to prepare transfer pricing report. However, the Romanian tax authorities may exceptionally request the preparation and submission of transfer pricing report for specific transactions and tax periods during a tax audit where justified by a risk analysis. In such cases, the report must be prepared and submitted within the deadline established by the tax authorities, which cannot be shorter than 30 working days from the request date and may be extended once, upon a justified request, by up to an additional 30 working days.

During the period granted for the preparation and submission of the transfer pricing report, the tax audit may be suspended in accordance with the provisions of the Fiscal Procedure Code.

Expanded transfer pricing report requirements

The content of the transfer pricing report has been substantially expanded, including new requirements regarding functional analysis profiles, business restructurings, tested party selection, and comparability analyses.

The comparability analysis requirements also become more strict, introducing criteria for the geographic search of comparables and requiring greater transparency regarding the search strategy, accepted/rejected companies, and the databases used. Benchmarking studies must be submitted in Excel format, including the relevant formulas and quantified results.

A new mandatory reporting Annex introduces a standardized disclosure of related-party transactions and year-end transfer pricing adjustments. This Annex requires a structured breakdown of revenue and expenses-generating transactions and loans, reported separately for each counterparty. Disclosure must include annual transaction values, year-end transfer pricing adjustments and references to the corresponding sections of the transfer pricing report.

The tax authorities also clarify the circumstances in which a transfer pricing report may be regarded as incomplete. In cases where a report is deemed incomplete, the tax authorities may proceed with transfer pricing estimations for the relevant transactions and periods, with any adjustments or estimations being determined by reference to the central tendency of the market.

Applicability

The new framework applies to transactions carried out starting from 1 January 2026, while the procedural provisions will apply to tax administration procedures (e.g., tax audits) initiated after 1 January 2027.

Transfer pricing report is not prepared nor requested for transactions and periods covered by a valid Advance Pricing Agreement (APA) issued by ANAF. Likewise, no transfer pricing report is required to be prepared for transactions and periods for which a transfer pricing adjustment or estimation decision has been issued and effectively implemented by the affected Romanian affiliated parties.

New APA regulations were also introduced under ANAF Order 857/2026, published on 2 July 2026. For more details, see tax alert Romania adopts new rules for advance pricing agreements.

What taxpayers should do now

Given the tighter timelines and the more detailed and strict evidence expected by the tax authorities, businesses should assess as early as possible:

• whether they are in scope of the new annual filing requirement;
• whether their current systems can capture the data required for the new related-party disclosure requirements, including on transfer pricing adjustments; and
• actions needed to timely adapt their transfer pricing report to the new rules.

The EY team is available for further details regarding the above.