This article analyses the institution of the extinctive prescription, first synthesizing the common law stated by the Romanian Civil Code (Section I) and then the special regulation given by the Romanian Code of Fiscal Procedure (Section II) in which we differentiate between the particular legal regime of the extinctive prescription in the area of the rights of claim (Section 2.1-2.2), in the area of the right to initiate the foreclosure (Section 2.3), and in that of the right to ask for compensation and restitution (Section 2.7). The comparison between the legal regime of the extinctive prescription in civil law and its regulation given by the fiscal law it is stated by the last section, structured into similarities and differences.