Starting from January 1st, insurance companies will have to report to the Romanian tax authorities (ANAF) data regarding individuals in Romania who have taken out life insurance policies or similar financial products.
According to Emergency Ordinance 125 of 2024, this reporting will be done twice a year. The new measures have been approved through a government decision and will apply to all resident individuals who have these types of insurance policies, as reported by TVR Info.
Insurance companies that fail to report the data risk fines ranging from 20,000 to 100,000 lei.
The purpose of the measure is to assist ANAF in collecting essential data for tax purposes and to ensure compliance with European Directive 2010/24/EU, which aims to improve mutual assistance in collecting claims and taxes.
According to experts cited by HotNews, there are many cases where Romanians receive traffic fines outside the country but do not pay them. When authorities there try to recover the amounts, they find that there is nothing to recover, so they want to know if the fined individuals have life insurance policies.
The Romanian Civil Code prohibits seizing life insurance policies. However, since the money ends up in a bank account, ANAF can impose a seizure. While an employer can be required to withhold one-third of a salary, there is no such limitation on a bank account, as it is considered that money from any source can enter there.
Therefore, the European Commission has requested detailed clarifications regarding access to information concerning life insurance and other financial products and the possibility of providing such information that could be subject to recovery assistance.
Currently, when such information is requested, ANAF should address the Financial Supervisory Authority (ASF) to obtain the requested data, but this process takes too long, as conveyed by the Ministry of Finance to the cited source.