A desk review (verificare documentară) is not a tax inspection. The tax authority does not come to you and does not, as a rule, ask you to go to it. It analyses your tax file and the information received from third parties, and if it finds discrepancies it asks you for documents and explanations. The outcome may be a tax assessment decision.
The tax authority compares your returns with the data in your tax file and with information from third parties: banks, other institutions, business partners.
If it finds discrepancies, it notifies you and asks you for documents and explanations. You have 30 days from communication; the time limit may be extended for good reason.
Before the decision, the tax authority must hear you. After the hearing you have 5 working days for your written position.
If your explanations do not account for the discrepancies, the tax assessment decision is issued, within no more than 25 working days of the hearing.
| Desk review | Tax inspection | Review of personal tax status | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Who it concerns | any taxpayer | taxpayers with tax obligations: companies, PFAs (authorised self-employed individuals), others | individuals only, income tax only |
| Where | at the tax authority's office | as a rule at the tax authority's premises; at the taxpayer's premises, on request or on the authority's initiative | as a rule at the tax authority's premises; on request, also at the professional office of the lawyer or consultant |
| How it starts | notification of the discrepancies | notice of tax inspection | notice of review (aviz de verificare) |
| Main time limit for you | 30 days for documents and explanations | written position: 5 working days from completion (7 for large taxpayers) | 60 days for the requested documents |
| Outcome | tax assessment decision, subject to subsequent verification | report and decision; the reservation of subsequent verification is cancelled | tax assessment decision or termination decision |
| Can another check of the same period follow? | yes, the decision remains subject to subsequent verification | only in cases of re-examination or of the inspection being redone | only if additional data emerge |
Hypothetical example. A PFA receives a notification: the income in the single tax return (declarația unică) is lower than the amounts reported by two clients. On checking, it turns out that one of the clients also reported an amount paid in January of the following year. The written response, with the invoices and bank statements, shows that the discrepancy is one of period, not of undeclared income. The remaining discrepancy, relating to the second client, is discussed at the hearing.
Law Articles 148-149 of the Tax Procedure Code (TPC). A desk review is an analysis of the consistency of the tax position on the basis of the tax file and of information from third parties or held by the tax authority (Article 148(2)). It is carried out by the tax inspection bodies, the anti-fraud inspection bodies and the bodies competent for the review of personal tax status (Article 148(3) and (5)); the latter use the indirect methods (Article 1481). It is carried out within the limitation period (Article 1481(1)).
Law The 30-day time limit for documents and explanations, and the issuing of the decision if these are not provided or confirm the discrepancies: Article 149(1)-(2). The decision is subject to subsequent verification: Article 149(3). The hearing is mandatory: a decision issued without a hearing is null, except where the hearing has been waived in writing (Article 149(4)-(5)). The written position within 5 working days of the hearing, with an extension of no more than 5 working days, and the decision within no more than 25 working days of the hearing: Article 149(6).
Law The hearing in a desk review is one of the procedures that may be conducted by videoconference (ANAF President's Order No 705/2026, Annex, Article 2).
Situations in which the answer differs: a desk review may be followed by a review of personal tax status, without a new compliance notice (ANAF's information sheet on the compliance notice).
Informative material, updated on 16 October 2026. It does not constitute legal or tax advice; individual situations must be assessed on their own facts.
Yes. The decision issued in a desk review remains subject to subsequent verification, so the period may later be checked through an inspection.
The tax authority may, after the hearing, issue the tax assessment decision on the basis of the information it holds. The time limit may be extended for good reason, on request.
No. A decision issued without a hearing is null, unless you have waived the hearing in writing.
The 30-day time limit runs from the communication of the notification. The consultation establishes which discrepancy the tax authority has identified, what can be documented and what can be argued at the hearing.
What helps to have to hand: the notification, the returns for the periods concerned, the bank statements and the documents for the amounts in question.
The initial message does not create a mandate and is not a consultation. Do not send documents through the form; I will ask you for them after the first contact, through an appropriate channel.