Intra-group services in 2026 — the OECD’s proposed revisions and ANAF tax audits in Romania
Management, IT, accounting and human resources services invoiced between companies within the same group require clear justification. The existence of a contract and an invoice does not, on its own, demonstrate which services were provided, the benefit to the recipient company or whether the price complies with the arm’s length principle.
Status of the OECD revisions
In June 2026, the OECD published proposed revisions to Chapter VII of the Transfer Pricing Guidelines, which addresses intra-group services. The proposals aim to clarify existing principles and supplement them with practical examples concerning the identification, pricing and documentation of services.
The draft does not constitute adopted rules and does not automatically introduce new tax obligations in Romania. The OECD states that taxpayers and tax administrations should not treat the proposals as final guidance. The public consultation meeting to discuss them is scheduled for 9 November 2026.
Three questions the documentation should address
For each category of intra-group services, the documentation should answer three questions:
• What service was provided? The description should be supported by relevant evidence, such as reports, deliverables, correspondence or service records.
• What is the benefit to the company? The documentation should explain why an independent company would have paid for the service or performed it in-house.
• How was the price determined? The costs, allocation keys and mark-up applied should be transparent and justified.
Costs relating exclusively to shareholder activities and services that duplicate activities performed locally require separate analysis and should not be automatically recharged to subsidiaries. A justified mark-up does not compensate for a lack of evidence of the service and its benefit.
ANAF already examines these issues
In its press release of 29 May 2026, the Romanian National Agency for Fiscal Administration (ANAF) states that its audits examined the economic justification for intra-group services, the benefit to the Romanian company, cost allocation and consistency between the documentation and the activities actually performed. These checks fall within the existing framework and do not depend on the adoption of the OECD proposals.
For companies in Romania, the practical recommendation is to collect supporting documents as services are provided and check consistency between contracts, invoices and the activities actually.
