On 18.03.2026, a Draft for amendment and supplement of the Tax and Social Security Procedure Code (“TSSPC”) was submitted to the National Assembly. More specifically, an amendment to Art. 264, para. 4 TSSPC has been proposed – the provision is of key importance in cases of transfer/establishment of real rights over immovable property or transfer of motor vehicles.

What was the regulation until now?

Notaries and judges of the Registry Agency were obliged, prior to the deal execution, respectively – the registration of the notarial deed (in the most common case – sale of property), to carry out a check in the system of the National Revenue Agency and to refuse to perform the respective action if they establish that the transferor has outstanding public liabilities.

The previous wording of Art. 264, para. 4 TSSPC allowed the transaction to be completed if the debtor settles its liabilities or agrees the sale price to be used for their settlement, provided that such price is sufficient to fully cover them. The law further did not regulate what would happen if such liabilities are established in the name of the mortgagor under a contractual mortgage, which is also concluded before a notary and is subject to mandatory registration in the Property Register.

What is proposed with the amendments?

The new wording of the provision provides that the transaction may be completed if (i) the debtor duly pays its liabilities (identical to the previous regulation), but also if (ii) the debtor declares in writing that it agrees that its public liabilities be settled up to the amount of the sale price of the transferred or established real right, and the acquirer (the buyer) pays this amount into the budget.

This means that even where the sale price is not sufficient to fully settle the public liabilities, the transaction may be executed and registered, provided that the entire price is transferred not to the account of the seller, but to the account of the budget of the respective competent authority to which the established liabilities are owed.

In order to overcome the above-mentioned gap, a similar possibility is explicitly provided also in the case of a mortgage agreement, where in this hypothesis the extinguishment is carried out up to the amount of the monetary loan (secured by the mortgage) and the respective amount is paid into the state budget by the lender.

In this way, the incorrect interpretation adopted by certain court panels will be overcome, according to which where the sale price obtained under the transaction is not sufficient to fully settle the liabilities of the transferor, the transfer of ownership or the establishment of real rights over immovable property and motor vehicles should be considered inadmissible and cannot be carried out at all.

The imposition of such incorrect interpretation undoubtedly leads to significant practical difficulties and has an adverse effect on civil turnover. This is particularly evident in cases of co-ownership, where the existence of public liabilities of only one of the co-owners may prevent the completion of the transaction and deprive the remaining co-owners of the possibility to dispose of their share and to receive their due part of the sale price.

The adoption of the amendments will be an important step towards more flexible administrative and notarial procedures, clearer rules in transactions with immovable property and motor vehicles and, overall, towards improving the investment environment.

This article has been prepared for and is part of the Legal Digest issued by Penkov, Markov & Partners. The publications therein do not constitute legal advice and are not binding. Penkov, Markov & Partners reserves all rights to this material, and any distribution thereof is subject to the prior written consent of the law firm.