my BUSINESS IN ROMANIA™

Hosted by Dr Bogdan Nastase

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Jan 2026

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How to start business, grow, or exit successfully

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January 16, 20267 min

CASE STUDY: “The 10‑Day Notice” That Woke Up a Regional CFO. How One Call to Piroi™ Romania Internal Audit Saved 16% of EBITDA

This case study outlines the legal necessity and strategic value of internal auditing for multinational subsidiaries operating in Romania. It explains that companies meeting specific financial thresholds are legally required to maintain an internal audit function under Law 162/2017, with non-compliance risking significant fines and reputational damage. The episode highlights how proper auditing serves as a critical defense against tax deductibility caps on intercompany management fees. By establishing a substance-driven evidence file, firms can protect their profit margins from aggressive fiscal scrutiny. Ultimately, the source advocates for proactive measures like Advance Pricing Agreements to ensure long-term regulatory certainty and financial stability.INTROThursday, 8:45 AM. Canary Wharf, London. Emma, Regional CFO for Central & Eastern Europe, is on her second coffee, scrolling through overnight emails. The 2025 close looks strong, and the Romanian subsidiary, a "star performer" in the group with a turnover that just crossed €10 million, seems stable.Then a red subject line hits her inbox from the local team. In Romania, internal audit can be legally mandatory when the entity is subject to statutory audit (Law 162/2017). And in 2026, HQ management fees face a new deductibility pressure point under Fiscal Code Art. 25¹. Emma doesn’t know it yet, but she’s about to learn how fast these two threads can merge into one crisis...

February 26, 20241 min

Permanent Establishment (PE) in Romania

Understanding the concept of Permanent Establishment, or Permanent Headquarters, or Permanent Office (=ro. Sediu Permanent) and its implications for foreign businesses is crucial for tax compliance and operational efficiency in Romania.

June 10, 20232 min

A solution for shareholders who fight over access to company documents

One of the most debated subjects when shareholders start having arguments is the right of access to company documents. There are times when communication problems between the shareholders of a company turn into disagreements, then escalate into conflict. Reasoning doesn’t help anymore, egos get over-inflated, and the conflict becomes disruptive for the company as a whole. Everything gets amplified, court cases follow, and a business that started with the best intentions ends up at risk. And here is where the Romanian Companies Law 31/1990 steps in to help: close to the end of the law, in its final provisions, article 283(3) states “La societăţile existente, asociaţii pot modifica actul constitutiv, prevăzând în el documentele la care aceştia urmează să aibă acces [...[”. This means that the shareholders have a very good instrument at their disposal, to prevent arguments: from the very beginning of the company, they can agree in the Articles of Association the extent and the mutual limits of access to company data and documents. For instance “offers in 30 days information regarding bank statements”, or “in case one shareholder starts another company with the same object of activity, without the approval of the other shareholder(s), then access to information about clients is limited to [...]”. Call it a safeguard for mutual protection. Establishing the rules early on, when the company is new, helps prevent disagreements in the future. Also for existing companies, updating their Articles of Association taking into consideration article 283(3) of the Companies Law is recommended. Therefore, the best way to prevent shareholders from fighting is rooted in an old Romanian saying: “Socoteala curata, prietenie adevarata” Transparency and pre-agreed rules between shareholders help navigating the meanders of temporary disagreements before actually reaching a critical point for failure in inter-personal communication. https://www.piroi.org/post/a-solution-for-shareholders-who-fight-over-access-to-company-documents

September 18, 202021 min

How to read a Romanian trial balance

The trial balance - or, for short, the “balance” - represents the mirror of my company’s activity. All the operations that I run reach the accounting document called the trial balance. Sooner or later I will need to understand it in detail so that I can better coordinate my business - therefore I can already start by forming an overall impression on the types of information that the balance may offer. https://www.piroi.org/post/how-to-read-a-romanian-trial-balance

July 28, 202011 min

📲 Mobile App Review: Mandatory Day Workers Registry | Registrul Zilierilor - Inspectia Muncii 🆕

With the entry into force of the Order of the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection No. 1140 / 2020, starting with July 25, 2020, the beneficiaries have the obligation to keep records of day laborers in the Electronic Register of Day Workers. Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fy-S2GtsDO4 Source: https://www.inspectiamuncii.ro/registrul-electronic-de-evidenta-a-zilierilor

March 27, 20202 min

🟦🟨 Emergency Status Certificate

The Ministry of Economy, Energy and Business Environment offers, on request, Emergency Status Certificates to the businesses affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The request for an Emergency Status Certificate is done on http://prevenire.gov.ro/ and needs to be signed with the electronic signature of the legal representative of the business - or a delegate, holder of an electronic signature. The Emergency Status Certificates are of two types: 🟦 TYPE 1 (BLUE) - for businesses who were temporarily suspended by the public authorities; 🟨 TYPE 2 (YELLOW) - for businesses who suffered losses in March 2020 greater than 25% of the cash received on average in January-February 2020. The certificates are used in relation to the public authorities for obtaining facilities - or for trade relationships.

March 25, 20207 min

🦠 COVID-19 emergency tax measures ⚠️

Welcome back, here’s a summary of the measures adopted by the Romanian Government through Emergency Orders during the economic crisis caused by the coronavirus disease COVID-19. The latest is about technical unemployment, an important facility for companies during the suspension of the labour contracts. There are two categories: companies whose activity was temporarily suspended by the Government - and companies who suffered losses greater than 25% due to the crisis. We also speak about deferred tax deadlines and other tax facilities - and how to benefit from them. Transcript available on https://www.piroi.eu/tax-news/covid-19-crisis-tax-facilities

December 6, 20192 min

How to get back the VAT code (5) after having lost it

Regaining the VAT code takes longer than getting it in the first place, because the tax inspectors are more alert to potential irregularities, even if the initial loss of the VAT code has just been the result of a missed deadline. Therefore, the best thing to do is to keep good hold of the VAT code once obtained: I must not lose it 😊 If, however, I manage to lose it, getting it back is not impossible: it just involves some additional steps and documents https://www.piroi.eu/my-business-in-romania/start/tax-details/getting-the-vat-code/regaining-the-vat-code-after-losing-it

December 5, 20192 min

How to get the VAT code (4) for e-commerce

This type of VAT code is for companies from outside Romania - which sell in Romania, via e-commerce/distance sales, above the threshold of EUR 25_000 (RON 118_000) https://www.piroi.eu/my-business-in-romania/start/tax-details/getting-the-vat-code/the-vat-code-for-e-commerce-distance-sales

December 4, 20191 min

How to get (3) the special VAT code for EU transactions

my Business in Romania is not registered as a VAT-payer, however I need to do a one-off transaction with a company from the EU. Normally I would need to register my Business in Romania as VAT payer - but here's an alternative: the special VAT code for intra-EU transactions. After getting this special VAT code, I will pay VAT 19% in Romania on the intra-EU transaction, however I will not be registered as a full VAT payer in relation to my transactions with other companies from Romania https://www.piroi.eu/my-business-in-romania/start/tax-details/getting-the-vat-code/the-special-vat-code