The transfer pricing file will change from 2026.

Order ANAF no. 828/2026 (Official Gazette no. 543 from July 2, 2026) rewrites the rules of the transfer pricing file. It applies to transactions conducted starting January 1, 2026: the current financial year is already under the new rules. Three changes matter.

• Large taxpayers: the file becomes an annual obligation and is submitted via SPV.

• Small and medium taxpayers: the file remains at the request of ANAF, but with recalibrated thresholds.

• All: an incomplete file is treated, legally, as a non-existent file.

Legal framework: art. 11 and art. 108 of the Tax Code (market value principle); art. 106 and art. 336 of the Tax Procedure Code (estimation of the tax base, respectively contraventional regime). If you conduct transactions with related parties - intra-group services, loans, royalties, sales of assets - the modification directly concerns you.

Large taxpayers: annual file, submitted via SPV

• The file is prepared annually and submitted electronically, via SPV, within 30 working days from the legal deadline for filing the annual profit tax declaration.

• Benchmarking must be completed before the submission deadline, not after the start of an inspection.

Documentation shifts from the control phase to current compliance: the file enters the annual closing calendar, alongside the balance sheet and the profit tax declaration.

Small and medium taxpayers: the file remains “upon request”

• There is no annual obligation for preparation and submission. The file is presented at the request of the tax authority, during a control, for transactions with each affiliate that meet or exceed the thresholds.

• Response time: 30 working days from the communication of the request (previously: calendar days), with a single extension, upon motivated request, of up to 30 working days. During the granted deadline, the inspection can be suspended.

Below thresholds does not mean out of the discussion

Companies below thresholds do not prepare the file, but ANAF can request it for certain transactions and periods if the risk analysis justifies it. The file is not prepared and is not requested only in two situations:

• transactions and periods covered by a valid advance pricing agreement (APA) issued by ANAF;

• transactions for which an adjustment or estimation decision has already been issued and applied between Romanian related parties.

The new thresholds of significance

Testing is done for each transaction, with each affiliate individually, at values excluding VAT. The same company may be below threshold for services and, simultaneously, above threshold for financing, with the same affiliate. Values (large taxpayers / small and medium taxpayers):

• Services rendered or acquired: 100,000 euros / 50,000 euros.

• Financing transactions (interest): 200,000 euros / 100,000 euros.

• Intangible assets and royalties: 250,000 euros / 150,000 euros.

• Tangible assets (sale or purchase): 350,000 euros / 200,000 euros.

An incomplete file is a non-submitted file

The order expressly lists the minimum elements whose absence draws this qualification. A submitted file, but with key sections missing, opens ANAF's right to adjust or estimate transfer prices. The cost:

• additional profit tax - 16% on the increased taxable base;

• 0.02% daily interest, late penalties of 0.01% daily and non-declaration penalty of 0.08% daily (art. 181 Tax Procedure Code);

• fine (art. 336) - 12,000–14,000 lei for medium and large taxpayers, 2,000–3,500 lei for others.

The fine is, generally, the smallest part of the final bill.

Electronic annex: why the risk of control increases

The order introduces a standardized annex - “List of transactions conducted with each related party”. Being automatically processable, ANAF can correlate it with tax declarations, financial situations, and the SAF-T file (D406). Risk analysis becomes finer, and selection for inspection more targeted.

What you need to do

The order applies to transactions conducted from January 1, 2026 and to administrative procedures initiated after January 1, 2027 (those started before remain subject to the rules in place at the time of initiation). The fiscal year that you document now is the first one that falls under the new rules.

1. Inventory transactions with affiliates conducted from January 1, 2026, for each affiliate and each category - this is how thresholds are tested.

2. Test exceeding thresholds for the 2026 fiscal year.

3. Plan the 2026 file (large taxpayers), with completed benchmarking in time, for submission via SPV within the deadline.

4. Update the transfer pricing policy and support documentation: contracts, activity reports, and evidence of the economic benefit of intra-group services - the chapter where most adjustments are lost.

How we can help you

The Geseidl team covers inventorying transactions with related parties, testing thresholds for each affiliate and category, preparing or updating the transfer pricing file and getting it ready for submission via SPV. You can write to us at office@geseidl.ro or find us at www.geseidl.ro.

 This communication is informational and does not constitute personalized tax consultation. The specific application of the provisions of ANAF Order no. 828/2026 requires analysis of the specific situation of each entity.