An apartment in a Romanian company's name: when TVA does not arise and when it is deductible
An apartment in a Romanian company's name: when TVA does not arise and when it is deductible
Buying an apartment in Romania in the name of your own company is a workable structure: some transactions go through with no TVA at all, and where the tax does arise, it is deductible once the conditions are met. The limitation here is strict: the right to deduct is created before the deed is signed, not after, and the decision on a specific transaction is made by ANAF. Below: what changes when buying through a company, in which cases the tax does not arise by law, what procedure precedes the transaction, and what someone who has already bought a property without settling this question in advance should do.
What changes if the apartment is registered to a company rather than a person?
What changes is not the property but the ownership regime. The owner becomes a Romanian legal entity, the property enters its books, and the transaction takes on the company's tax regime.
Ownership is registered in the land book to the company, the property is disposed of by decision of the shareholder, and selling a share in the company and selling the apartment itself are two different operations with different consequences.
Something appears that a private owner does not have: accounting, reporting, the obligation to keep documents on the property and to carry it on the balance sheet. And the question of TVA arises, which for an individual simply does not come up in most transactions.
A separate detail that is visible right away: the reduced rates for housing are designed as a social measure and are aimed at individuals. A company pays the standard rate regardless of the property's area and value.
Who is buying through a Romanian company suitable for?
The structure suits those for whom the apartment works as an asset: it is rented out, is part of a portfolio of several properties, is bought for resale, or is bought together with other real estate in the same company.
The conditions under which the structure makes sense at all are simple. The company has real activity, a bank account and accounting in place. The source of funds is confirmed by documents — the bank will ask about it before the transaction, not after. The owner is ready for reporting and for the property to live by the company's rules, not by personal plans.
Here too is a fact as of the publication date, which is assessed separately.
By Law No. 161/2026 the reduced rate of 9% has been extended until September 30, 2026 inclusive: one home, the buyer is an individual, usable area no more than 120 m², value including land no higher than 600,000 lei excluding tax, the property is fit for habitation.
This window does not apply to legal entities. The notary states the applied rate in the deed, so the transaction's regime is visible in the documents and cannot be replayed later.
Does TVA arise when buying an apartment in Romania, and in which cases?
Not in every transaction. The tax arises when the seller acts as a taxable person; if the apartment is sold by a private owner who is not such a person, the operation remains outside the scope of TVA — the tax does not arise by law.
Three typical situations look like this.
Resale housing from a private owner — the operation is outside the scope of TVA.
A new build from a developer — an operation with tax, the standard rate as of the publication date being 21%.
A company as seller — the regime depends on how the property is classified and which regime the seller has declared for the transaction; this is clarified before signing, not at the notary's table.
There is also a fourth case that is often overlooked: a private owner whose real estate transactions are regular may themselves turn out to be a taxable person. That is why the seller's status is checked from documents, not taken on their word.
How does a company deduct TVA, and what needs to be done before the transaction?
Deduction is possible under two conditions at the same time: the company is registered as a TVA payer, and the property is used in taxable operations. Both conditions are created before the transaction — that is the whole point of the preparation.
A procedure of 5 steps.
First. Determine the purpose of the property.
Second. Register the company as a TVA payer.
Third. Check the seller's regime.
Fourth. Complete the transaction at the notary.
Fifth. Report the transaction in the tax return.
The purpose of the property decides everything else. Renting out housing is an operation without the right to deduct unless taxation by option has been elected for it; the specific mechanics for your property are confirmed by a specialized audit firm before the transaction, not after it. Changing the purpose of the property after purchase triggers an adjustment of the previously claimed deduction over a period set by law — the period is counted per property and checked as of the date.
And the boundary we state plainly: the decision on a specific transaction is made by ANAF.
“The deduction cannot be guaranteed — but the transaction can be structured so that there are no questions about it. The timelines, the amount and the working procedure are in the contract.”
What to do if the property has already been bought, and TVA was not settled before the transaction?
First, find out whether there was any tax in the transaction at all. Whether anything has been lost depends on this, and the conversation is based on documents, not impressions.
There are three outcomes, and we go through them honestly, including the unpleasant one.
The property was bought from a private owner outside the scope of TVA — there is nothing to deduct, there is no loss, and the question is closed through bookkeeping and the property's purpose.
A new build was bought with tax, but the company was not registered as a payer — registering after the transaction does not automatically restore the right to deduct; the situation is analyzed based on the deed and the invoice.
The property was bought with tax and is used in a non-taxable operation — no deduction is due on it, and a change of purpose works going forward, with an adjustment.
The procedure is the same in all three cases: pull up the deed and the invoice, establish the seller's status and the transaction's regime, record the actual use of the property, obtain the auditors' opinion and only then make a decision. The question never asked costs the most: the transaction's regime is determined once, at the moment of signing.
How does Alliance build this structure?
Alliance runs the transaction under a contract that sets out the timelines, the amount and the working procedure; the company's licenses are publicly available on the website.
Scope of work: determining the property's purpose for the owner's task, checking the seller's status and regime, registering the company as a TVA payer before the transaction, preparing source-of-funds documents and going through bank compliance, supporting the signing at the notary, setting up bookkeeping for the property.
Armonia shows the properties — Alliance builds the structure and protects the money.
The roles are separated both in the contract and in the work.
The legal part is handled by specialized professionals, the accounting and tax part by audit firms; the head of the company is responsible for strategy, the bank, financial monitoring and coordination of all processes.
Personal presence is needed only where the law requires it: the transaction can be done under a power of attorney drawn up in advance.
What to remember before the transaction
The transaction's regime is determined before signing. The tax either does not arise by law, or it arises and is deductible once the conditions are met; there is no third option, and improvising after the transaction costs more than preparing before it.
Can you buy an apartment in a company's name if the company was opened recently?
Yes, there is no restriction on the company's age.
What matters is something else: whether the company is registered as a TVA payer before the transaction, whether the account is open, whether bookkeeping is kept and whether the source of funds is confirmed.
Which is more cost-effective — buying through a company or as an individual?
The answer depends on how the property is used and how many properties are planned. As of the publication date, individuals have a separate reduced-rate window until September 30, 2026 if the conditions of the law are met; it does not apply to companies, but a company has the deduction mechanism that a private owner does not.
Do you guarantee the deduction?
No. The decision on a specific transaction is made by ANAF.
The deduction cannot be guaranteed — but the transaction can be structured so that there are no questions about it.
The timelines, the amount and the working procedure are in the contract.
Book a free compliance assessment: we will review your situation based on your documents and give you a written opinion — a recommended bank, a list of documents for the source of funds, an assessment of the origin of funds, the purchase structure and the transaction method. And a straight answer: whether this structure suits you.
The assessment is free and does not oblige you to anything. Write to us in the Telegram chat @alliance_consulting_SRL — we will review your situation.
Sergey Valentinovich Kononov is the head of the consulting company Alliance Consulting (Constanța, Năvodari). Over 30 years of management experience; the company has run a licensed practice in Romania for four years and supports clients from the first consultation to receiving their documents. The company's licenses and documents are publicly available on the website.