New Romanian Transfer Pricing Documentation Rules — ANAF Order 828/2026

July 2026 – ANAF Order 828/2026 replaces the transfer pricing (TP) documentation framework that had applied under Order 442/2016. The stated purpose is to align Romanian documentation requirements with the 2022 edition of the OECD Transfer Pricing Guidelines and the outcomes of the BEPS project.

The new rules bring five structural changes detailed below:

• a mandatory annual electronic filing of the TP documentation for large taxpayers;
• significance thresholds tested per counterparty and per transaction category rather than in aggregate;
• materially expanded and more prescriptive documentation content;
• a standardised, transparent comparability study delivered in Excel;
• a standardised list of intra-group transactions, delivered in Excel and PDF.

The order applies to transactions carried out from 2026 and to administration procedures initiated after 1 January 2027.

1. Mandatory annual filing for large taxpayers (the headline change)

Under Order 442/2016, large taxpayers prepared annual TP documentation by the corporate income tax (CIT) return deadline and present it only on request during an inspection. Order 828/2026 introduces a proactive obligation: large taxpayers must file TP documentation electronically through the Virtual Private Space (SPV), signed by a legal representative, within 30 working days of the CIT-return deadline. If the file is not submitted through the SPV, it must be presented on request during a tax audit, within a maximum of five working days.

2. Thresholds — now per counterparty and per transaction

The most significant change is the move from an aggregate test (summing transactions across all related parties) to a test applied for each individual transaction with each related party, by category. The categories and levels have also been revised, as in the table below:

Taxpayers below both threshold sets have no obligation to prepare TP documentation. The tax authorities may still request TP documentation for specified transactions and periods during a tax audit, but only where a fiscal risk analysis justifies it, allowing at least 30 working days, with one extension of an additional 30 working days.

3. Expanded, OECD-aligned file content

The content requirements for TP documentation are broader and more prescriptive than the former requirements. Key additions include:

• Master File alignment – the group section is expressly mapped to the OECD Master File;
• Functional profile and tested party – explicit justification of the taxpayer’s profile, including classification as limited-risk or full-risk, and justification of the tested-party selection; where the tested party is foreign, an independent auditor’s report certifying the profitability indicator may be required;
• Other new items – express treatment of costs recharged without a mark-up; disclosure of the profitability indicator and cost-base structure; a self-responsibility declaration on the accuracy of the file; identification of trade/professional-secret information; and PE profit attribution by reference to the OECD 2010 Report.

4. A transparent comparability study – Excel deliverable

Order 828/2026 includes a dedicated comparability study section.

• The study must document the full search strategy with each quantitative and qualitative criterion justified, the database and version used, the list of selected comparables, and the list of rejected companies with reasons.
• Multi-year analyses must cover a minimum of three fiscal years, and the study must be submitted in Excel format including search formulas and the interval calculation.
• The geographic search order is now based on the tested party’s residence. For a Romanian tested party, the hierarchy is Romania → EU (including the UK) → EMEA → international. For all other tested parties, the hierarchy begins with the tested party’s jurisdiction and then proceeds to its regional grouping).

5. Standardised transaction listing

A new model list of related-party transactions (Annex 3) must be completed and filed in Excel and PDF, split into income transactions, expense transactions, loans, and the share of related-party transactions in total revenue/expense, with year-end adjustments shown separately.