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VAT Number in Romania, Format, Check and Cancellation
What the number looks like, how to check it and when it stops being valid.
Short answer
A Romanian VAT number is the VAT registration code (cod de înregistrare în scopuri de TVA). ANAF, the National Tax Administration Agency, assigns it to a company registered for VAT. It starts with the prefix RO. On our reading, the rest is the company's fiscal code, the CUI. Anyone can check the number in VIES and on ANAF's public register.
If your own company still has to register for VAT, that is a separate procedure. It is explained in how a new Romanian company gets registered for VAT. This guide explains the number itself.
What does a Romanian VAT number look like?
The Romanian VAT code has the prefix RO (ISO 3166 alpha-2). This applies to numbers assigned under art. 316 or 317 (art. 318(1) Fiscal Code, text consolidated to Law 170/2026). The EU rule behind it is that the prefix identifies the Member State of issue (art. 215, Directive 2006/112/EC). The European Commission adds that each country has its own block of digits or characters.
After the prefix comes, on our reading, the company's fiscal code, the CUI. No official sentence says so. Our reading rests on art. 318(1), art. 82(1)(b) Fiscal Procedure Code and the fact that ANAF's register is searched by fiscal code. We print no digit count or check digit, because we found no official rule for either. Rates and thresholds are in VAT in Romania.
Anatomy of a Romanian VAT number
Romanian VAT number
RO
The prefix, ISO 3166 alpha-2 (art. 318(1) Fiscal Code)
The company's fiscal code, the CUI
Our reading. For a company registered at the Trade Register (art. 82(1)(b) Fiscal Procedure Code); assigned by ANAF on the data the ONRC sends (art. 126(2) Law 265/2022, 2022 text)
Not shown
Digit count and check digit: no official rule found
What is the difference between the CUI, CIF, NIF and the VAT code?
Romanian law uses several codes that are easy to confuse. The table gives each in the statute's own words.
Identifiers of a Romanian company. Sources: Fiscal Procedure Code (consolidated to OUG 38/2026) and Law 265/2022 (2022 text).
| Term | What it is | Who gets it | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| CIF, cod de identificare fiscală (fiscal identification code) | The code under which a taxpayer is registered | Every person or entity that is a subject of a tax legal relationship | Art. 82(1) Fiscal Procedure Code |
| CUI, cod unic de înregistrare (unique registration code) | The CIF of a company registered at the Trade Register. ANAF assigns it on the data the ONRC sends; it appears on the ONRC certificate and, with the register number, on the company's invoices, offers, orders and other trade documents | A company registered at the Trade Register | Art. 82(1)(b) Fiscal Procedure Code; art. 126(2) and 127(1) Law 265/2022, 2022 text; art. 74(1) Law 31/1990, text of January 2024 |
| NIF, număr de identificare fiscală (fiscal identification number) | The number the tax office assigns to an individual without a Romanian personal numeric code | A foreign founder or director who has no such code; not a company VAT number | Art. 82(1)(e) Fiscal Procedure Code |
| VAT code, cod de înregistrare în scopuri de TVA | The code assigned under art. 316 or 317, with the prefix RO | A person registered for VAT | Art. 266(1) pt. 8 and art. 318(1) Fiscal Code |
| J number and EUID | Trade-register identifiers shown on the ONRC certificate; they are not tax numbers | A company registered at the Trade Register | Art. 110(1) Law 265/2022, 2022 text |
The full topic of identifiers is in the tax identification number guide. Customs identification is a separate subject, covered on the EORI number page.
How do you check a Romanian VAT number?
All four checks are public ANAF and European Commission tools. A number on its own proves nothing, while its status does. Check the company, not only how the number looks.
Four public checks, ANAF and European Commission tools, checked on 13 and 14 October 2026.
| Check | What you enter | What it returns | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| VIES | Romania from the Member State drop-down, then the number | Whether the number is valid and, where national data protection rules allow (art. 31(2) Regulation 904/2010), the associated name and address | Regulation (EU) 904/2010 |
| ANAF register of art. 316 VAT payers | The fiscal code (the CUI, without RO) and the captcha | Whether the company is on the public register | ANAF |
| ANAF register of inactive or reactivated taxpayers | The fiscal code or the name | Whether the company is flagged inactive | ANAF |
| ANAF web service, version 9 | A CUI and a query date | The status on that date; for a cancelled number, the cancellation date and its legal basis. At most 100 CUIs per request, one request per second | ANAF web service documentation |
According to its Bucharest guide, written before September 2025, ANAF shares the data of its VAT registers with other Member States through VIES. Member States store invalid numbers with the dates they became invalid (art. 17(1)(c) Regulation 904/2010).
How do you check a Romanian VAT number on a past date?
ANAF's web service for art. 316 VAT payers, version 9, takes a CUI and a query date. It says whether the company was a VAT payer on that date. For a cancelled number it returns the cancellation date and its legal basis. It also reports inactivity, split VAT and e-Factura status. ANAF published the instructions on 4 February 2025.
The date matters to a buyer. Suppose a Romanian supplier's registration was cancelled for a tax-record offence, missing or nil returns or high fiscal risk (art. 316(11)(c)-(e), (h)). If the supplier is also entered in the register of cancelled registrations, its customers lose the VAT deduction on purchases from it. Two kinds of purchase are excepted: goods bought in enforced-execution proceedings and goods bought from a supplier in bankruptcy (art. 11(9) Fiscal Code). Inactivity has its own rule (art. 11(6)-(7)). Check the status on the invoice date, not today's. That last step is our analysis, not a quoted rule.
- The answer is true or false for the date asked.
- A request holds at most 100 CUIs, and a client may send one request per second.
- We run no queries on it. Any bulk check has to stay within these limits. ANAF says attempts to overload the server are punished under the regulations in force.
Is every number that starts with RO a normal VAT number?
No. The RO prefix goes to codes assigned under art. 316 and under art. 317 (Art. 318(1)). The special code of art. 317 is used only for the intra-EU operations it was issued for. It does not make the company a normally registered VAT person (art. 317(10)).
The prefix and format alone do not show which kind of number you hold, so check its status. ANAF's public register is titled for art. 316 payers only. Whether to use a special code instead of registering normally is a tax-consultancy question. A CCF tax consultant or a lawyer answers it. This guide does not.
How does a Romanian company get its VAT number?
The number is the last link in a chain of filings. The sequence below shows who acts at each step.
The CUI is assigned · ANAF
ANAF assigns the CUI from the data that the ONRC sends it (art. 126(2) Law 265/2022, 2022 text).
The ONRC certificate is issued · ONRC
The ONRC registration certificate shows the register number, the CUI and the EUID (art. 110(1) Law 265/2022, 2022 text).
ANAF draws up the VAT certificate · ANAF
It shows the registration date and the code assigned (Order 239/2021 annex pt. 4(2)). If you make the request at formation, ANAF communicates the certificate no earlier than the ONRC certificate (pt. 10(1)).
The company enters the public register · ANAF
Right after it communicates the certificate, ANAF enters the company in the register of VAT payers (pt. 11(1)). The registers are public (art. 316(15) Fiscal Code).
Risk analysis follows · ANAF
After registration under art. 316(1), the central tax body runs a risk analysis on a company with its seat in Romania that was formed under Law 31/1990 (art. 316(9)). ANAF can cancel the registration later, on the grounds below.
Your own company may still have to register for VAT. We prepare and file the request with ANAF.
Where must the VAT number appear?
Four rules say where the VAT code and the company's fiscal code must appear.
- Companies registered under art. 316 tell all suppliers and customers their VAT code (art. 318(4)(a) Fiscal Code).
- An invoice shows the supplier's VAT code or, as the case may be, its fiscal code (art. 319(20)(d)).
- It also shows the customer's VAT code or fiscal code, where the customer is a taxable person or a non-taxable legal person (art. 319(20)(f)).
- The CUI and the register number go on every invoice, offer, order, tariff, prospectus and other trade document the company issues. Fiscal receipts from cash registers are excepted (art. 74(1) Law 31/1990, text of January 2024).
What is the Romanian VAT registration certificate?
The VAT certificate is a document of its own, separate from the ONRC registration certificate.
What the certificate shows
ANAF draws it up with the registration date and the code assigned (Order 239/2021 annex pt. 4(2)). Order 1699/2021 approves the model. The ONRC certificate is a different document.
The statutory term
The tax office issues a certificate of fiscal registration within 10 days of the filing (art. 87(1) Fiscal Procedure Code). This applies to the VAT certificate too (art. 87(4)). That is a term for the tax office, not our promise.
No stamp duty
The state charges no extrajudicial stamp duty for issuing these certificates (art. 87(2)).
A lost certificate
The tax office issues a duplicate on request. You must show proof that the loss, theft or destruction was published in Monitorul Oficial, Part III (art. 87(3)).
Changes to registration data
A VAT-registered company must notify ANAF in writing of changes to its registration data, including data on the certificate. The deadline is 15 days (art. 316(18) Fiscal Code).
When does a Romanian VAT number stop being valid?
The number stops being valid when ANAF cancels the registration (anulare). This happens mostly under art. 316(11) of the Fiscal Code. Other routes exist. One is removal from the VAT records when a company that has ceased its activity notifies ANAF (art. 316(20)). The table is not a complete list. It gives the grounds the sources quote.
Grounds of cancellation quoted in the sources. Source: Fiscal Code, consolidated to Law 170/2026.
| Ground | What triggers it | From when, and whom it concerns | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Inactive status | The company is declared inactive under the Fiscal Procedure Code | From the date it is declared inactive | Art. 316(11)(a) |
| Tax-record offences | Offences in the tax record of the persons named in the next column | The majority shareholders, the sole shareholder, the administrators or the company itself (for a joint-stock company, the administrators or the company itself); from the date the cancellation decision is communicated | Art. 316(11)(c) |
| No VAT return | Six consecutive monthly returns, or two consecutive quarterly returns, not filed | From the first day of the month after the due date of the sixth monthly return (for quarterly filers, of the second quarterly return) | Art. 316(11)(d) |
| Nil returns | Returns for six months or two quarters showing no purchases and no sales | From the first day of the month after the due date of the sixth monthly return (for quarterly filers, of the second quarterly return) | Art. 316(11)(e) |
| Neither obliged nor entitled | The company was neither obliged nor entitled to register for VAT | Concerns the registration itself | Art. 316(11)(f) |
| Own request | The company asks to leave the VAT records to apply the special exemption regime for small enterprises | Concerns the company that asks | Art. 316(11)(g) |
| High fiscal risk | A company with its seat in Romania, formed under Law 31/1990 and subject to trade-register registration, presents high fiscal risk | Concerns Romanian companies formed under Law 31/1990 | Art. 316(11)(h) |
After registration under art. 316(1), the central tax body runs a risk analysis on a company with its seat in Romania that was formed under Law 31/1990 (art. 316(9)). The inactivity ground connects to dormant and inactive companies. This guide names them but does not cover them.
What happens after a VAT number is cancelled?
A cancellation can change what the company can deduct, what its customers can deduct and which return it still owes.
What a cancellation sets in motion
VAT cancellation
When it takes effect
Missing returns
The first day of the month after the sixth monthly return (or the second quarterly return) was due (art. 316(11)(d))
What becomes public
The public register
The cancellation is entered within 3 days of communicating the decision (art. 316(15))
Customers
They lose the VAT deduction once the company is listed, for cancellations under art. 316(11)(c)-(e) and (h) (art. 11(9))
What the company then faces
Deduction
No input VAT deduction while cancelled on those grounds, output VAT still owed (art. 11(8))
Last return
Due by the 25th (art. 316(13))
The ways back
Art. 316(12)(c), (d)
Fiscal Code, consolidated to Law 170/2026.
Deduction while cancelled
A company established in Romania cannot deduct input VAT on its purchases while its registration is cancelled for a tax-record offence, missing or nil returns or high fiscal risk (art. 316(11)(c)-(e), (h)). It still owes the VAT it collects (art. 11(8) Fiscal Code). For inactivity, art. 11(6) applies.
The public cancelled register and your customers
ANAF's registers of VAT-registered and cancelled persons are public. ANAF enters a cancellation within 3 days of communicating the decision (art. 316(15)). If the cancellation was for a tax-record offence, missing or nil returns or high fiscal risk, the company's customers lose the VAT deduction on purchases from it. Two kinds of purchase are excepted: goods bought in enforced-execution proceedings and goods bought from a supplier in bankruptcy (art. 11(9)).
The last return and the way back
A last VAT return is due by the 25th of the month after ANAF communicates the decision (art. 316(13)). To be registered again after missing returns, the company files them with a reasoned request undertaking to file on time. After nil returns, it gives an affidavit that it will carry on economic activity. Both run from the date the registration decision is communicated (art. 316(12)(c), (d)). We do not cover other routes here.
Who does what
A CECCAR-member accountant prepares and files the returns within an accounting-services contract (OG 65/1994 art. 6, 21(1)). A lapse caused by missing or nil returns is an accounting matter, and we do not sell that service. Answering ANAF in a procedure and contesting a cancellation are tax consultancy (OG 71/2001 art. 3(1)(e), (f)). A CCF tax consultant, a lawyer or the company's accountant under its contract does that work.
Can a provider give you a Romanian VAT number?
No. Only tax administrations issue VAT numbers. The European Commission warns that companies receive proposals to obtain a valid VAT number against an advance payment. A provider can prepare and file the registration request and work with the professionals who advise on it. ANAF decides, and it analyses risk after registration (art. 316(9)).
What a provider can do
- Prepare the VAT registration request.
- File it under the client's power of attorney.
- Liaise with the client's accountant, a CCF tax consultant and a lawyer.
- Explain what the statute says, as this guide does.
What a provider cannot do
- Issue or guarantee a number, or a time for it.
- Answer ANAF in a procedure or contest a decision: that is tax consultancy (OG 71/2001 art. 3(1)(e), (f)).
- Keep the books or prepare and file VAT returns for a client within an accounting-services contract. That is CECCAR work (OG 65/1994 art. 6, 21(1), 43(1); Law 82/1991 art. 10(3)). Preparing tax declarations is also tax consultancy (OG 71/2001 art. 3(1)(b)).
- Give a tax opinion on whether to register.
From our practice
With us, a VAT file follows one order. We prepare the request and file it under the client's power of attorney. We then work with the client's accountant and a CCF tax consultant, who keep the returns and answer ANAF. A number that looks right can still be cancelled. To judge whether a number is still good, check its status, not its format.
Official sources
- Fiscal Code, consolidated to Law 170/2026: the VAT code, registers, cancellation, invoices
- Fiscal Procedure Code, consolidated to OUG 38/2026: CIF, CUI, NIF and the certificates
- ANAF Order 239/2021: the VAT certificate and entry in the register
- ANAF web service, version 9: status on a chosen date
- ANAF register of VAT payers: search by fiscal code
- ANAF register of inactive taxpayers: search by fiscal code or name
- VIES: validation of a VAT number of any Member State
- Regulation (EU) 904/2010: confirmation of validity, invalid numbers stored
- European Commission, VAT identification numbers: the format and the warning on paid offers
- Law 265/2022, 2022 text: the CUI and the ONRC certificate
- OG 65/1994: accounting work reserved to CECCAR members
- OG 71/2001: tax consultancy, tax declarations, answers to ANAF and appeals
Frequently asked questions
Does every Romanian company have a VAT number?
No. Every company registered at the Trade Register has a CUI, its fiscal code (art. 82(1)(b)). The VAT code is a separate code, assigned under art. 316 or 317 (art. 318(1)). A company can also leave the VAT records on request, for example to apply the small-enterprise exemption (art. 316(11)(g)).
Can a provider "give" me a Romanian VAT number?
No. Only tax administrations issue VAT numbers. The European Commission warns of offers to obtain a valid VAT number against an advance payment. A provider can prepare and file the registration request and liaise. ANAF decides, and it analyses risk after registration (art. 316(9)). We do not issue or guarantee a number.
Is the Romanian VAT number the same as the CUI?
Not exactly. The CUI is the company's fiscal code (art. 82(1)(b)). On our reading the VAT number is the prefix RO plus that code. It exists only once the company is registered for VAT (art. 318(1)). The Trade Register certificate shows the CUI. The VAT registration certificate shows the VAT code (Order 239/2021 annex pt. 4(2)).
What is the difference between the CUI, CIF, NIF and the VAT code?
The CIF is the fiscal identification code every taxpayer receives (art. 82(1)). For a company registered at the Trade Register the CIF is the CUI (art. 82(1)(b)). An individual without a Romanian personal numeric code gets a NIF (art. 82(1)(e)). The VAT code is a separate code with the prefix RO (art. 318(1)).
Is an art. 317 code a real VAT number?
It carries the same RO prefix (art. 318(1)). But it is a special code, used only for the intra-EU operations it was issued for. It does not make the company a normally registered VAT person (art. 317(10)). The prefix alone does not show which kind a number is, so check its status.
Why does a Romanian VAT number fail in VIES when the company exists?
This guide gives no cause, because we found no official explanation. You can check three things. One is whether the company is in ANAF's register of art. 316 payers. Another is its status on a chosen date through the ANAF web service. The third is the public cancelled register. An art. 317 special code does not make a company a normally registered VAT person (art. 317(10)).
How do I check a Romanian VAT number in VIES?
Open VIES, select Romania from the Member State drop-down and enter the number. VIES validates a VAT number issued by any Member State. Regulation 904/2010 provides for electronic confirmation that the number is valid, together with the associated name and address (art. 31).
How do I check whether a Romanian company was VAT-registered on a past date?
Query ANAF's web service for art. 316 payers, version 9, with the CUI and a query date. It says whether the company was a VAT payer on that date. For a cancelled number, it also gives the cancellation date and its legal basis. A request holds at most 100 CUIs. A client may send one request per second.
When does a Romanian VAT number stop being valid?
Mostly when ANAF cancels it under art. 316(11). A company that ceases activity can also be removed from the VAT records on notice (art. 316(20)). Grounds include inactivity, tax-record offences, missing or nil returns and high fiscal risk. Missing returns count from the first day of the month after the sixth monthly (or second quarterly) return was due (art. 316(11)(d)).
What happens to my customers if my VAT number is cancelled?
Your customers lose the VAT deduction if the cancellation was for a tax-record offence, missing or nil returns or high fiscal risk (art. 316(11)(c)-(e), (h)). That happens once ANAF enters the cancellation in the public register, within 3 days of the decision (art. 11(9), 316(15)). Some purchases are excepted. The company cannot deduct input VAT but still owes the VAT it collects (art. 11(8)).
Can a company be registered for VAT again after a cancellation, and from when?
Re-registration is possible on set routes. After a lapse for missing returns, the company files the missing returns and a reasoned request undertaking to file on time. After nil returns, it gives an affidavit that it will carry on economic activity. Both run from the date the registration decision is communicated (art. 316(12)(c), (d)). We do not cover other routes here.
What is the Romanian VAT registration certificate and who issues it?
ANAF draws it up, showing the registration date and the VAT code assigned (Order 239/2021 annex pt. 4(2)). The model is approved by Order 1699/2021. It is separate from the Trade Register certificate. That certificate shows the register number, the CUI and the EUID (art. 110(1) Law 265/2022, 2022 text).
What happens if I lose the VAT certificate?
The tax office issues a duplicate on request, with proof of publication of the loss, theft or destruction in Monitorul Oficial, Part III (art. 87(3) Fiscal Procedure Code). The state charges no extrajudicial stamp duty for these certificates (art. 87(2)). The rules of art. 87 apply in the same way to the VAT certificate (art. 87(4)).
Where must the VAT number appear on an invoice?
An invoice shows the supplier's VAT code or, as the case may be, its fiscal identification code (art. 319(20)(d)). It also shows the customer's VAT code or fiscal code when the customer is a taxable person or a non-taxable legal person (art. 319(20)(f)). A company registered under art. 316 also tells all its suppliers and customers its code (art. 318(4)(a)).
What does a Romanian VAT number look like?
It starts with the prefix RO (ISO 3166 alpha-2, art. 318(1)). On our reading the rest is the company's fiscal code, the CUI. The European Commission says each country has its own format, a country code followed by digits or characters. Check any number in VIES or on ANAF's register, because format alone proves nothing.