Status 03: ceased operating, tax code not yet closed

● 03 · Ceased operating but tax code termination not completed

The company has ceased operating but the procedure to terminate its tax code is not finished — usually because returns, tax debt or invoices are still outstanding. The legal entity and its unfinished obligations still exist.

What this status means

Status 03 means the taxpayer has ceased operating, but the procedure to terminate its tax code has not been completed. It is common when a company has filed for dissolution or requested termination and then stopped part-way because returns are missing, debts remain or invoices have not been dealt with.

03 describes what the tax authority is recording, not a judgement on whether the company is good or bad. Nor does it mean the company has vanished: the legal entity still exists, and the legal representative remains the person named for the unfinished matters.

The aggregated database cannot yet separate 03: the public source merges suspended and ceased situations under one shared label. This page therefore has no separate count; to know whether a tax code really is 03, check the tax authority's page.

In the tax code clean-up campaign under Official Dispatch 18/CD-CT of 13 July 2026, the July 2026 review list contained about 291,962 companies that had stopped operating but had not completed dissolution. That figure is from the July 2026 list, not the number outstanding today.

Practical effects

Invoices: Usually invoices can no longer be issued for new transactions: invoice use has usually been stopped once the company entered the closing procedure. Check your own situation on the e-invoice portal rather than inferring it from the status.
Signing contracts: New contracts should not be signed. Contracts in progress need to be settled, deposits refunded, or transferred to another legal entity by clear agreement.
Banks: The account is usually still needed to collect remaining receivables, pay outstanding tax and refund deposits; closing it too early makes completing the procedure harder.
Legal representative: Remains named for the unfinished obligations. If tax is still owed, measures relating to the debt — including temporary exit suspension of the legal representative as provided by law — can still apply; a person previously named may also face difficulty registering another company.

What a company with this status should do

Decide the goal first: close for good, or return to business. The two directions use different sets of procedures.
Ask the managing tax office, or look in the e-tax account, where the termination file is stuck: which returns are missing, which debts remain, which invoices are unresolved.
Gather the books, invoices and bank statements for recent years; where something is missing, note exactly what rather than reconstructing it to look complete.
File the remaining returns and finalisation, and pay the amounts still owed. Late-payment interest accrues by the day, so the longer it waits the heavier it gets.
Deal with contracts and deposits still in progress: draw up settlement records and make refunds through the company's account.
Complete the termination of the tax code, then finish dissolution at the business registration authority; keep accounting records for the period required by the Accounting Law.

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What a business partner should do

Do not sign new contracts or pay deposits.
For contracts in progress: agree in writing how they end — settlement, refund, or transfer to another legal entity by a three-party agreement.
Review invoices recently received from this company: look up each one on the e-invoice portal, and keep the result with the date of the check together with delivery and payment records.
Do not accept a "borrowed" invoice from another company in place of the company with status 03.

Common mistakes

Thinking the tax code will delete itself if left long enough.
Still delivering goods and receiving money while closing, without invoices and without including it in returns.
Closing the bank account before tax is paid and deposits refunded.
Confusing dissolution at the business registration authority with tax code termination at the tax authority: two procedures, two offices, and the statuses do not change on the same day.

Where to verify

Official status line: the tax authority's taxpayer information lookup page. Notices and remaining obligations: the company's e-tax account. A specific invoice: the e-invoice portal. Suspension and dissolution procedures: the national business registration portal. Before a major decision, ask the managing tax office.

Other statuses

00 · Active 05 · Temporarily suspended for a fixed term 06 · Not operating at the registered address Suspended or ceased operating Pending verification of operation at the registered address

Questions and answers

What is status 03?

It is the situation where the taxpayer has ceased operating but has not completed the procedure to terminate its tax code. The closing file is unfinished on the tax side, usually because returns, tax debt or invoices are still outstanding.

Can a company with status 03 still issue invoices?

Usually not for new transactions, because invoice use has usually been stopped once the company entered the closing procedure. For a specific case, check the e-invoice portal and the invoice and e-document rules in force.

What happens if status 03 is simply left as it is?

The status stays still but the consequences build up: remaining tax debt keeps accruing late-payment interest, and the legal representative remains named for the unfinished matters. In 2026 the tax authority is reviewing this group in the tax code clean-up campaign.

A company is 03 and wants to trade again — how?

There is a way back, but it depends on how far the closing file has gone at both the business registration authority and the tax authority. Ask the managing tax office before acting, and only return once someone is in place to do the accounts every month.

A partner is 03 — what about the invoices it issued earlier?

Invoices issued before invoice use was stopped, for genuine transactions, usually still serve as supporting documents; the risk lies with invoices issued once problems had begun. Look up each invoice on the e-invoice portal and keep delivery and payment records so you can explain if asked.

Can this site tell for certain that a tax code is 03?

It cannot separate it: the public source behind the aggregated database merges suspended and ceased into one label. The official result is on the tax authority's taxpayer information lookup page.

For reference, written from the general rules and possibly not yet updated for new documents; a single status line is not a finding that a company is "clean", "safe" or in breach of anything. TaxDatum.com is run by a private company and is not a government portal.