Tax evasion is criminally punishable in Romania. While different actions can lead to tax evasion charges, the value of the taxes has a significant impact on penalties.
For some minimal values, you can avoid criminal sentencing. At the other end of the range, penalties can be severe.
What Actions Constitute Tax Evasion
Romanian law incriminates quite a few different actions as tax evasion. Amongst these are:
- hiding taxable goods or income sources;
- not declaring commercial operations or revenue;
- declaring fake expenses or other unreal operations;
- destroying or altering accounting documents;
- holding a double accounting;
- avoiding financial, tax, or customs inspections by not declaring main and secondary headquarters;
- substituting, degrading, or trading assets that were seized according to the Fiscal Procedure or Criminal Procedure Codes.
Main Penalties for Tax Evasion
As provisioned by art. 9 of Law no. 241/2005, the general penalty for tax evasion in Romania is 2 to 8 years imprisonment.
However, if the amount evaded is more than 100.000 euros, the penalty will range from 7 to 13 years.
Similarly, for amounts of more than 500.000 euros, the penalty will be 9 to 15 years imprisonment.
How to Get a Lower Sentence
You can get a much lower sentence if the evaded taxes have a low value.
Firstly, if the amount of taxes is up to 100.000 euros and you pay it, the court will be able to apply a criminal fine instead of imprisonment.
Secondly, if the amount is up to 50.000 euros and you pay it, the court will have to apply a fine instead of imprisonment.
On the other hand, if the prejudice is paid with an additional 20%, the criminal charges will be dropped entirely.
If you want to get a general idea of how a Romanian criminal trial works click here.
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