Tax Identification Number in Romania (CUI, CIF, NIF, CNP)

By Alexandra Neagu, VAT, customs and tax compliance lead · Reviewed by Andrei Stoica, registration and corporate filings lead · Last updated 23 October 2026

Which Romanian tax number is which, how a foreign founder's NIF is requested and how to check one.

Short answer

Romania has no single tax ID. The statute gives every taxpayer a fiscal identification code (CIF). A company registered at the Trade Register has a CUI. An individual who is not self-employed has a CNP. An individual without a CNP has a NIF. ANAF assigns the CUI, and the Ministry of Finance assigns the NIF. The VAT code is separate.

ANAF (the National Tax Administration Agency) decides on a VAT code. It is a separate registration, whatever tax number a company holds. The steps to get a Romanian VAT number are on their own page.

A laptop, a notebook with a pencil, glasses and a small plant on a marble desk, seen from above.

What is the tax identification number in Romania?

Every person or entity in a tax legal relationship registers and gets a fiscal identification code, the CIF (cod de identificare fiscală). The basis is art. 82(1) of the Fiscal Procedure Code. Unless a law says otherwise, only the central tax organ assigns it, on the registration declaration (art. 81(2)).

A company registered at the Trade Register (ONRC) has a CUI (cod unic de înregistrare). An individual has a CNP (cod numeric personal). It is also the fiscal code for income tax and social contributions (art. 82(2)). An individual without a CNP has a NIF (număr de identificare fiscală). The registration certificate also shows the register number and the EUID (European unique identifier). They identify the company in the trade register. They are not tax numbers (art. 110(1) Law 265/2022, 2022 text).

Which code belongs to whom

Romanian tax codes

The tax codes, by kind of person
- Company registered at the Trade Register
  CUI, which is its CIF (art. 82(1)(b)), assigned by ANAF on the data ONRC sends
- Legal person outside the register
  Fiscal registration code from the tax organ (art. 82(1)(a))
- Individual other than a self-employed one or a liberal professional
  CNP, assigned under a special law; for a foreigner with the qualifying right of stay, by IGI
- Individual without a CNP
  NIF from the tax organ
VAT code
Prefix RO, a separate registration
Not tax numbers
The register number and the EUID

Fiscal Procedure Code art. 82(1); Law 265/2022, 2022 text, for the register number and the EUID.

Which code belongs to whom. The VAT code, the register number and the EUID sit outside the family.

The Romanian codes in the statute's words. Sources: Fiscal Procedure Code, consolidated to OUG 38/2026; Law 265/2022, 2022 text.

Term	Who has it	Assigned by	Source
CIF, cod de identificare fiscală	Every person or entity in a tax legal relationship	The tax organ registers the taxpayer and gives the code	Art. 82(1) Fiscal Procedure Code
CUI, cod unic de înregistrare	A company registered at the Trade Register	ANAF, on the data ONRC transmits	Art. 82(1)(b) Fiscal Procedure Code; art. 126(2) Law 265/2022, 2022 text
Fiscal registration code, cod de înregistrare fiscală	A legal person or association not registered at the Trade Register	The tax organ	Art. 82(1)(a) Fiscal Procedure Code
CNP, cod numeric personal	An individual other than one carrying on an independent economic activity or a liberal profession (art. 82(1)(c) gives those a fiscal registration code, or the CUI if registered at the Trade Register)	Assigned under a special law; for a foreigner with the qualifying right of stay, by the immigration inspectorate (IGI)	Art. 82(1)(d) Fiscal Procedure Code; art. 144¹ OUG 194/2002
NIF, număr de identificare fiscală	An individual without a CNP, in practice the non-resident founder, shareholder or administrator	The tax organ; the Ministry of Finance on request	Art. 82(1)(e) and art. 83 Fiscal Procedure Code
VAT code, cod de înregistrare în scopuri de TVA	A person registered for VAT	A separate registration, with the prefix RO; see the section on the VAT number	Art. 318(1) Fiscal Code

What is a Romanian company's CUI, and where does it come from?

The CUI comes at the end of a short chain. We quote Law 265/2022 below from its 2022 text, which Law 222/2023 later amended.

The constitutive act · the founders
The act names an individual founder by CNP or its national equivalent. It names a legal-person founder by its register number and/or CUI and EUID (art. 8¹ Law 31/1990, January 2024 text).
The fiscal request · ONRC
The fiscal registration request is filed with the Trade Register application. ANAF assigns the CUI only on conditions tied to the registration (art. 125 Law 265/2022, 2022 text).
The assignment · ANAF
ANAF assigns the CUI on the data ONRC sends (art. 126(2)). ANAF sets its structure, not the statute (art. 126(3)).
The certificate · ONRC
The registration certificate shows the register number, the CUI and the EUID (art. 110(1)). It also attests that the legal person has acquired legal personality (art. 127(1)).
The use · the company
The company uses the CUI with third parties for its whole existence (art. 127(2)). It prints the CUI on business documents (art. 74(1) Law 31/1990, January 2024 text). An invoice shows the VAT code or, as the case may be, the fiscal identification code (art. 319(20)(d) Fiscal Code). On our reading, a company outside VAT invoices under its bare CUI.

A folder of company documents and a pen on a desk. — Where a CUI starts.

Is the CUI the same as the Romanian VAT number?

No. The CUI is the company's fiscal code (art. 82(1)(b) Fiscal Procedure Code). The VAT code is a separate code with the prefix RO (art. 318(1) Fiscal Code). A company's VAT number is RO plus its fiscal code. That is our reading of both articles, not a quoted rule. Rates and thresholds are set out in VAT in Romania. A claim for a VAT refund in Romania is a separate VAT procedure.

The EORI number is the customs identifier. For a company seated in Romania, it is RO followed by the CUI, according to the Romanian Customs Authority. The procedure is on the page for EORI registration with Romanian customs.

What is a NIF, and who gets one?

An individual without a CNP receives a NIF from the tax organ (art. 82(1)(e) Fiscal Procedure Code). In practice that is the founder, member, shareholder or administrator who lives abroad. A non-resident individual is anyone who does not meet the residence conditions. A foreign national with diplomatic or consular status in Romania is also a non-resident. Certain foreign officials and employees and their family members are non-residents too (art. 7 pt. 27). A resident meets at least one condition. These are a domicile in Romania, or the centre of vital interests there. They also include presence for more than 183 days in total in any 12 consecutive months ending in the calendar year concerned. A Romanian citizen working abroad as an official or employee of Romania in a foreign state is also a resident (art. 7 pt. 28 Fiscal Code). A CCF tax consultant can tell you which one applies to a given founder.

The NIF is a person's number. It is not the company's number, and it is not a VAT code. None of the provisions cited here makes a NIF a condition for signing, banking or being a director. They only make the registrar and the bank request one when it is missing (art. 83(1) and (4)).

How does a non-resident founder get a NIF?

Usually the registrar makes the request, not the founder. For every non-resident individual named in the constitutive act as founder, member, shareholder or administrator, the registrar sends the Ministry of Finance a NIF request. It sends a new request on a share transfer, a new legal representative or a new member admitted at a capital increase (art. 83(1) Fiscal Procedure Code).

The registrar route to a NIF

The constitutive act
It names a non-resident individual as founder, member, shareholder or administrator
The NIF request
The registrar sends the Ministry of Finance a NIF request, again on a share transfer, a new legal representative or a new member admitted at a capital increase
Who acts: Registrar
The NIF is assigned
The Ministry assigns the NIF unless the person is already registered for tax
Who acts: Ministry of Finance
ONRC is told
The Ministry answers ONRC
Who acts: Ministry of Finance
Term: on the day of the request or at the latest the next day (art. 83)
The certificate is kept
The tax organ keeps the certificate until the taxpayer or the representative collects it
Who acts: Tax organ

Art. 83 Fiscal Procedure Code.

The registrar route to a NIF (art. 83).

Four ways a non-resident individual's NIF is requested (Fiscal Procedure Code, current text).

Route	Trigger	Who requests	Answer and term	Source
Registrar	Registration of the company; also a share transfer, a new legal representative, a new member admitted at a capital increase	The registrar, for every non-resident individual founder, member, shareholder or administrator	The Ministry of Finance assigns the NIF unless the person is registered, and answers ONRC on the day of the request or at the latest the next day	Art. 83(1), (2)
Bank	Opening an account or renting a safe-deposit box for a non-resident individual without a NIF, or for a legal person without a fiscal code	The bank, to the central tax organ	The Ministry assigns the NIF (for a legal person, the fiscal registration code) and answers the bank within 5 days of the request	Art. 83(4)
Notary	A non-resident without a code, for the notary's statutory duties	The notary	The central tax organ registers the person; the procedure is set by an order of the ANAF President; no term is stated	Art. 83(4¹)
Payer of income	A non-resident whose only income is taxed at source with final withholding	The payer of the income	The tax organ may assign the code on the payer's request (art. 82(3), (9)); the certificate is issued within 10 days of the request (art. 87(1))	Art. 82(3), (9); art. 87(1)

A person can also declare directly on form 030. The form is free (art. 86), and the person attaches copies of the supporting documents (art. 82(10)). The certificate is then due within 10 days (art. 87(1)). This guide does not state where a non-resident files it or with which documents. The registrar route runs inside the company registration itself, including one under a power of attorney. See remote company registration in Romania.

Where is the NIF certificate collected, and can someone collect it for you?

The practical question is where the certificate sits and who may pick it up.

Where the certificate is kept

Under the current text the tax organ issues the certificate with the registration. It keeps the certificate until the taxpayer or the representative collects it (art. 83(2) Fiscal Procedure Code). Art. 83(3) is repealed.

Why older advice is wrong

The 2016 text had the trade register office deliver the certificate to the company. The current text replaces that wording. Advice that the registrar delivers the NIF certificate is old advice, not the rule.

Collecting it through a representative

A taxpayer may act through a representative (împuternicit), who files the power of attorney in the original or a certified copy (art. 18(1) and (2)). We do not cover foreign power-of-attorney formalities here.

No fiscal domicile in Romania

A taxpayer with no fiscal domicile in Romania must name a representative who has one. This applies if the taxpayer must file declarations here (art. 18(4)). EU and EEA residents are among the exceptions (art. 18(5)). For a non-resident without a permanent establishment, the tax organ may send the content of the certificate electronically (art. 83(5)).

A sealed envelope and a rubber stamp on a wooden desk. — The certificate is kept by the tax office until the taxpayer or the representative collects it.

Is your company still to be registered from abroad? We prepare and file the registration under a power of attorney.

Request a registration plan

What is a CNP, and when does a foreigner receive one?

The CNP is the individual's counterpart of the CUI, and it later replaces a NIF.

The individual's fiscal code

The CNP is the code of an individual other than a self-employed one or a liberal professional. A special law assigns it (art. 82(1)(d) Fiscal Procedure Code). For individuals' income tax and social contributions, it is the fiscal code (art. 82(2)).

How a foreigner receives one

IGI assigns a CNP to a foreigner whose temporary right of stay was extended or who was given long-term residence. IGI writes it on the residence permit. A foreigner granted a D/AM1 or D/AM2 long-stay visa receives it on the visa sticker (art. 144¹(1), (1¹) OUG 194/2002, IGI consolidation valid on 27 April 2026, as amended by OUG 32/2026). The immigration authority may assign one even without a right of stay. This needs the justified request of the public institutions concerned and the foreigner's express consent (art. 144¹(2)). We promise no permit or CNP.

What the constitutive act needs

The act names an individual founder by CNP and, where applicable, by its equivalent under national law (art. 8¹ Law 31/1990, January 2024 text). So a foreign founder does not need a CNP to appear in it.

When a CNP replaces a NIF

The tax organ replaces the NIF with the CNP and carries the tax information over. Earlier acts stay valid (art. 82(1)(e)). Form 030 is also the deregistration declaration when a CNP is assigned.

Which forms and deadlines apply to fiscal registration?

These forms and terms are the authorities' own, not a provider's promise.

Form 010 is the declaration of Romanian legal persons, associations and entities without legal personality (ANAF forms page).
Form 020 is for individuals who hold a CNP, and form 030 is for individuals without one. Self-employed individuals and liberal professionals file a separate form.
A legal person files the declaration within 30 days of its legal establishment (art. 82(6)(a) Fiscal Procedure Code). For a company registered at the Trade Register, the fiscal registration request travels with the ONRC application (arts. 125 and 126 Law 265/2022, 2022 text). We have not confirmed whether art. 82(6)(a) requires anything separate on top of that.
It comes with copies of the supporting documents, on a free form (art. 82(10), art. 86).
The certificate of fiscal registration is issued within 10 days of the filing, with no extrajudicial stamp duty (art. 87).
You notify later changes within 15 days (art. 88(1)). For Trade Register persons, only fiscal-vector changes go to ANAF (art. 89).
A company keeps its CUI after a share transfer. The company uses its CUI for its whole existence (art. 127(2) Law 265/2022, 2022 text). The tax organ withdraws a company's code on its own initiative when the legal person ceases to exist (art. 90(3) Fiscal Procedure Code). A share transfer does not cause that. The provisions cited here do not say whether a NIF changes on a share transfer or whether a seat move changes any code.

Does a Romanian tax ID have a fixed format?

ANAF sets the structure of the CUI, not the statute (art. 126(3) Law 265/2022, 2022 text). This guide prints no digit count, check-digit rule or example number, because we found no ANAF text that gives one. The format and the check of a NIF and of a CNP are not stated either.

To find out whether a number is real, use a lookup, not arithmetic. The next section lists the free ones. The register number and the EUID on the registration certificate are different identifiers.

How do you check a Romanian tax number?

All of these checks are free and open to anyone. The Ministry of Finance company lookup reaches companies that VIES and the VAT-payer register do not. One example is a company not registered for VAT. Enter the unique identification code, digits only, without RO. It returns registration data, six years of balance sheets and arrears records.

Which free check answers which question, checked on 13 and 14 October 2026.

Question	Tool	Entered as	Source
Does this company exist, what is its status, its filings, balance sheets and arrears?	Ministry of Finance company lookup	The unique identification code, digits only, no RO	Ministry of Finance
Is this company a VAT payer under art. 316?	ANAF register of VAT payers	The fiscal code	ANAF register
Is this company flagged inactive?	ANAF register of inactive or reactivated taxpayers	The fiscal code	ANAF register
Is this VAT number valid in any Member State?	VIES	The VAT number	VIES
Is the structure of this TIN valid?	European Commission TIN check	The TIN; confirms structure only	European Commission

The Commission's TIN check validates only the structure of a natural person's TIN. It confirms neither a person's identity nor whether the TIN exists or was allocated. We found no public lookup of a person's NIF or CNP. To check the VAT number itself, see how to check a Romanian VAT number.

Hands typing on a laptop in an office, the screen not legible. — The checks run online and are free.

What does "TIN" mean in the EU, and how does it relate to the Romanian numbers?

In EU usage, the TIN is the number a tax administration uses to identify a taxpayer. Read with art. 82(1), that is the CUI for a Romanian company. It is the CNP for an individual who has one and the NIF for an individual who has none. That is our reading, not a quoted rule. The European Commission publishes TIN country sheets with national contact points on its TIN portal. This guide cites nothing from the Romanian sheet.

Romania requires the reporting entity to report the NIF issued by the Member State of residence (Art. 305¹(2) Fiscal Procedure Code). On our reading, for a founder resident in another EU state, that is the home-country TIN, not a Romanian NIF, so a bank may ask for it. We do not cover the rule on the bank's side, and this guide does not decide which number to give.

What can a provider do about a tax number?

The authorities assign a tax number. A provider never issues or sells one. RomaniaRegist is a trust and company service provider notified to ONPCSB under Law 129/2019, so the law on money laundering covers our registration work. We act only under the client's power of attorney (art. 18(1) and (2) Fiscal Procedure Code).

What a provider can do

Assemble the identity documents the constitutive act needs.
File the registration application at ONRC, where the registrar requests the NIF.
Collect the certificate under the client's power of attorney, if the client allows it.
Keep the client informed of the authorities' own terms.

What a provider cannot do

Assign, issue or promise a number or a time.
Answer ANAF during a procedure, file an appeal or give a tax opinion. That is tax consultancy (art. 3(1)(a), (e), (f) OG 71/2001), for a CCF tax consultant, a lawyer or the client's accountant.
Keep books or prepare returns. That is CECCAR work (art. 21(1), 43(1) OG 65/1994; art. 10(3) Law 82/1991).
Draft a bespoke deed. That is work for a partner Romanian lawyer (art. 3(1)(c), 3(2) Law 51/1995).

From our practice

At RomaniaRegist a founder's file follows one order. We assemble the identity documents the act needs and file the registration. If the client allows it, we collect the certificate under the client's power of attorney. Questions about tax residence and ANAF go to the client's tax consultant or accountant.

Official sources

Fiscal Procedure Code, consolidated to OUG 38/2026: fiscal codes, NIF routes, certificate, terms
Law 31/1990, January 2024 text: founders' data, CUI on business documents
Law 265/2022, 2022 text: the registration certificate, assignment and structure of the CUI
Fiscal Code, consolidated to Law 170/2026: residence, VAT code prefix, invoices
Romanian Customs Authority, EORI: the EORI of a company seated in Romania
ANAF forms page: forms 010, 020 and 030
OUG 194/2002, IGI consolidation valid on 27 April 2026: the CNP of a foreigner
Ministry of Finance company lookup: free check by unique identification code
ANAF register of VAT payers: free search by fiscal code
ANAF register of inactive taxpayers: free search by fiscal code
VIES: validation of a VAT number of any Member State
European Commission TIN check: structure check and country sheets

Frequently asked questions

Do I have to pay someone to get a Romanian tax identification number as a foreigner?

Not for the number itself. Only the authorities can issue it. The tax organ assigns a NIF (art. 82(1)(e)), in practice the Ministry of Finance on the registrar's or a bank's request. The registration form is free (art. 86). The certificate carries no extrajudicial stamp duty (art. 87(2)). A fee, if any, is for someone's filing work.

Do I need a NIF to be a shareholder or director of a Romanian SRL, or to open a company bank account?

The provisions cited here give no rule that a NIF is a precondition for either. The statute has the registrar request a NIF for every non-resident individual founder, member, shareholder or administrator (art. 83(1)). It has a bank request one when it opens an account for a non-resident who lacks it (art. 83(4)). We do not cover how a given bank behaves.

Do I have to apply for the NIF myself, or does the trade register do it?

Usually the registrar does it. The registrar sends the Ministry of Finance a NIF request for each non-resident individual founder, member, shareholder or administrator in the act. It sends a new request on a share transfer, a new legal representative or a new member admitted at a capital increase (art. 83(1)). A bank (art. 83(4)) and a notary (art. 83(4¹)) can also request one. Form 030 is the direct declaration.

Where is the NIF certificate collected, and can someone collect it for me?

Under the current text the tax organ keeps the certificate until the taxpayer or their representative collects it (art. 83(2)). The older rule that the register office delivers it is repealed (art. 83(3)). A representative (împuternicit) files the power of attorney in the original or a certified copy (art. 18(2)).

How long does a NIF take?

Only the authorities' own terms are stated. The Ministry of Finance answers the registrar on the day of the request or at the latest the next day (art. 83(2)). It answers a bank within 5 days (art. 83(4)). The tax office issues the certificate within 10 days of a filing (art. 87(1)). No provider can promise a time.

Is the CUI the same as the CIF, and the same as the Romanian VAT number?

The CIF is the generic fiscal identification code (art. 82(1)). For a company registered at the Trade Register, it is the CUI (art. 82(1)(b)). The VAT code is a separate code with the prefix RO (art. 318(1)). A company's VAT number is RO plus its fiscal code. That is our reading, not a quoted rule.

What happens to my NIF if I move to Romania and get a CNP?

The tax organ replaces the NIF with the CNP and carries over the tax information registered under the NIF. Acts communicated before the replacement stay valid (art. 82(1)(e)). Form 030 is also the deregistration declaration when a CNP is assigned. Whether and when you receive a CNP is a matter for IGI, the immigration inspectorate.

Does a foreign company that owns shares in a Romanian SRL need a Romanian tax number?

The cited provisions give no rule for the shareholding. The rule in Art. 83(1) names non-resident individuals only. The statute has a bank request a code for a legal person without one when it opens an account (art. 83(4)). The act records a legal-person founder by register number and/or CUI and EUID (art. 8¹ Law 31/1990, January 2024 text). A CCF tax consultant answers the rest.

What is my TIN in Romania?

It depends on the person. A company registered at the Trade Register uses its CUI. An individual who is not self-employed and has a Romanian personal numeric code uses the CNP. One without a CNP has a NIF (art. 82(1)). If you hold none, your TIN is the one your home country issued. That is our reading of the EU term.

What is the tax code for Romania?

Romania has no single tax code. The statute's generic term is the fiscal identification code, the CIF (art. 82(1)). It takes the form of the CUI for a company. For an individual who is not self-employed it is the CNP. For an individual without a CNP it is a NIF. The VAT code is a separate code starting with RO (art. 318(1)).

What is a CNP number in Romania?

The CNP (cod numeric personal, personal numeric code) is an individual's personal code. For income tax and social contributions, it is the fiscal code (art. 82(2)). IGI assigns it to a foreigner whose temporary right of stay was extended or who was given long-term residence (art. 144¹(1) OUG 194/2002, IGI consolidation valid on 27 April 2026).

Is a TIN number the same as a social security number?

No. A TIN is the number a tax administration uses to identify a taxpayer. In Romania it is the CUI, the CNP, the NIF or, for some legal persons and self-employed individuals, the fiscal registration code. The issuer of a form decides whether another country's social security number is accepted on it. This guide covers Romanian numbers only.

How do I find my tax identification number, or a foreign tax ID number?

A company's CUI is on its registration certificate (art. 110(1) Law 265/2022, 2022 text) and on its business documents (art. 74(1) Law 31/1990, January 2024 text). A foreigner's CNP is on the residence permit or, for a D/AM visa, the visa sticker (art. 144¹ OUG 194/2002). For another country's TIN, the European Commission publishes country sheets with national contact points.

How do I check a Romanian company's CUI, and why does VIES not find my Romanian company's number?

Enter the CUI, digits only, in the Ministry of Finance company lookup, or the fiscal code in ANAF's registers. VIES validates VAT numbers of any Member State. A company not registered for VAT has a CUI but no VAT number (art. 319(20)(d)). This guide gives no other cause for a failed VIES search.

Which number do I give my home bank or tax office: my home TIN or a Romanian NIF?

That depends on what the bank or office asks for, and this guide does not decide it. Romania requires the reporting entity to report the NIF issued by the Member State of residence (Art. 305¹(2)), so a bank may ask for your home TIN. This is analysis. We do not cover the rule on the bank's side.