A three-year moratorium on small business inspections: what Decree No. UP-175 provides

Presidential Decree No. UP-175 of 27 August 2026 introduces a three-year moratorium on any inspections of small businesses. The exceptions are few: inspections within criminal cases, monitoring of compliance with labour legislation, and VAT refund cases.

For 2027–2028 an "initiative audit" programme is launched: medium and large enterprises may voluntarily undergo an audit by certified auditors — tax inspections are suspended for that period, and errors corrected within 30 days are exempt from financial sanctions.

Audit organisations bear responsibility for tax violations discovered after such an audit. A repeat inspection of the same entity within a year (except desk audits) is allowed only with the consent of the business ombudsman.

The decree cements the course towards a "presumption that the entrepreneur is right" and lower administrative pressure on business, which the President spoke about at the August dialogue with entrepreneurs.

What this means in practice: if your business qualifies as small, there should be no scheduled or unscheduled inspections for the next three years — an inspector's demand outside the exceptions can be challenged with reference to the decree.

Photo: Flazingo Photos, Flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0)