Legal updates
Recent legislative changes, court decisions and practical analyses, commented by the Petcu Partners team for companies and investors.
Published in the Official Journal on 19 September 2026, the new Union Customs Code brings a €2 per-item handling fee, makes platforms the importer, introduces fines of up to 6% of import value, and establishes the EU Customs Authority in Lille and the single EU Customs Data Hub platform. A practical guide in question-and-answer format.
Read article →The Spatial Planning, Urbanism and Construction Code enters into force on 25 August 2026 and repeals Law 50/1991 and Law 350/2001. Integrated digital permitting, tacit approval as the rule, notification for small works, fines of up to RON 1,000,000 and a one-year window for legalising unauthorised buildings, at fees ten times higher.
Read article →Romania has almost all the pieces of an alternative tax dispute resolution system (mediation, advance rulings, advance pricing agreements, administrative challenge), but no mechanism that actually works. A study in tax and comparative law: what can be negotiated with the Romanian tax authority, how the alternatives look in five European states, and what should change.
Read article →Who must declare income earned abroad, why Romania taxes it, how the tax credit and exemption methods work, and why the Romanian tax authority finds out about it anyway through the automatic exchange of information (CRS, DAC2, FATCA).
Read article →From 1 July 2026, steel importers must prove the country where the steel was actually melted and poured, not just the country of purchase. Tariff quota cut to 18.3 million tonnes, out-of-quota duty raised to 50%, burden of proof shifts to the importer.
Read article →In its judgment of 13 May 2026, the Court of Justice of the European Union clarifies the boundary between direct taxation (transfer pricing) and VAT, since a margin adjustment does not, in itself, become the consideration for a taxable supply.
Read article →Through Law 57/2025, the fast small claims procedure (art. 1,026 CPC) now applies to claims of up to RON 50,000, five times the previous threshold.
Read article →The tax rate on income whose source cannot be identified during a personal tax situation verification has risen from 16% to 70%, a clear signal from ANAF on the importance of documenting the source of every sum.
Read article →From 2026, the national RO e-Invoice system is mandatory for all B2B, B2C and B2G relations. A specific 15% sanction applies in B2B relations.
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