Most companies – 59%, of which 60% are large taxpayers, have not been subject to an environmental inspection so far, according to a survey conducted by EY.
On the other hand, the most common problems in tax inspections, as shown in the survey, are the failure to identify all obligations to the Environment Fund, the incorrect determination and declaration of quantities placed on the market, the failure to declare reusable packaging or deficiencies in supporting documents.
“From what we observed in the study, the responding companies indicated several cases regarding the obligations to the Environment Fund that need a clearer legislative framework”, says Georgiana Iancu, EY Partner, coordinator of the Indirect Taxes Department. These include the rules on reusable packaging, the establishment and classification of electrical and electronic equipment (EEE), the identification of EEE producers in view of the obligations of entities importing products strictly for domestic use, the lack of a calculation methodology agreed by tax inspections to determine the weight of packaging that must be declared.
The management of an inspection regarding the obligations due to the Environmental Fund, treated in relation to the fiscal inspections performed by ANAF, brought to the fore the importance of verifying the reasons for which the suspension of the control activity is ordered. “It is essential that, whenever the taxpayer considers that the suspension does not fall within the assumptions regulated by the Fiscal Procedure Code or that it is abusive, to contest it within a maximum of 45 days and not wait for the completion of the inspection to challenge all documents thus issued. Such an approach will be considered as late,” said Alex Slujitoru, Lawyer, Radu and Asociații SPRL, specialized in tax litigation.
Establishing additional obligations (VAT and corporate tax) for the transfer of responsibility for packaging waste management services is one of the most common examples of the practice of careful tax inspections. “Until the courts decide this matter, we expect it to remain on the agenda of tax inspections. As such, we can only recommend the implementation of actions related to the revision of contracts, especially in relation to those specific clauses that give rights to audit how OIREPs (organizations implementing obligations on extended producer responsibility) fulfill obligations, documentation responsibility transfer services, and even the regular request from OIREPs of documents to prove that they have been verified by AFM,” also said Georgiana Iancu, coordinator of the Indirect Taxes Department.
