2024 eFactură B2B e-invoicing regime extends penalty relief
Following Romania’s first-stage launch of its mandatory e-invoicing regime in January 2024, it has extended the penalty forgiveness phase from 31 March to 31 May in a draft emergency ordinance issued on 23 March.
There is a two-stage launch:
- Jan 2024 – established a near real-time regime for reporting invoices between January 1 and June 31, 2024, without the application of penalties. This will require digital reporting of invoices in XML (in addition to the paper invoice) within 5 working days of issuance. This will be on the Virtual Private Space (SPV) on RO e-invoice system. This relates only to domestic supplies – exports and intra-community supplies are not required. There are no fines implemented for non-compliance until after 31 May 2024.
- July 2024 The full, pre-clearance electronic invoice submissions via the eFactură platform will go live July 2024. Paper invoices will not be acceptable for tax compliance.
The Romanian e-invoicing regime from July will require pre-clearance sending of the invoice in CIUS_RO format – (UBL 2.1 or CIN) format to the government’s portal for clearance. This will include basic validation checks on the information and format of the e-invoice.
Dec 2023: New guidance and extended penalty exemptions
Romania has issued fresh decrees for amendments and penalties to its planned B2B e-invoicing regime, launching in two phases in 2024 (see below). The new rules (Govt Emergency Ordinance 115/2023) include:
- Simplified invoices for goods and services are exempted;
- Invoices for exports, non-resident counterparties or B2C are exempted
The legislation to launch of B2B electronic invoicing for resident and non-resident businesses has now been approved by the Parliament and the President. 12 Dec 2023: user guidance manual issued
The Romanian Ministry of Finance has issued a user guidance manual for the new January 2024 mandatory e-invoicing regime. The manual covers the following topics: registration; access; free invoicing app; generating XML invoices; downloading invoices; conversion to PDF; archiving; Frequently Asked Questions; and other information.
Oct 2023 Legislation approved for Jan 2024 near real-time reporting of B2B invoices; full B2B pre-clearance e-invoicing July 2024
Romanian SAF-T monthly transaction reporting was launched in January 2022 by the Romanian tax authority, ANAF.
Romania’s ANAF (Agenției Naționale de Administrare Fiscală – National Agency of Fiscal Administration) has already imposed in July 2022 B2B e-invoicing in fraud-sensitive sectors, including:
- Vegetables, fruits, roots, edible tubers, other edible plants
- Alcoholic beverages
- Mineral products
- New construction
- Clothing and footwear
27 July update – Council of the European Union approves application for Romanian e-invoicing for 1 January 2024
The Council of the European Union has approved the European Commission’s proposal to permit Romania to mandate domestic VAT electronic invoicing from 1 January 2024. This permission was required to allow Romania to derogate from Articles 219 and 232 of the EU VAT Directive which restrict the use of government mandated e-invoicing. Romania applied for this permission in 2022. Its original plan was to launch in July 2022.
Separately, the EU is proposing to remove this requirement to seek its approval to deviate from the EU VAT Directive on e-invoicing from 1 January 2023. This is part of VAT in the Digital Age reforms.
B2G e-invoicing is mandatory from 1 July 2022 using the RO eFactură protocol.
Romania is following the Italian SdI pre-clearance model, including Continuous Transaction Controls (CTC), which has proven highly successful at cutting the VAT Gap – the difference between forecast and actual indirect tax revenues. Romania has the EU’s highest VAT Gap at 34%.
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Pre-clearance Romanian e-invoicing – but will end 2026
The increasing global e-invoice trend is for live-reporting or draft sales invoices being first sent to the tax authorities for recording and basic validation checks. This approved invoice is then sent to the customer – either by the tax authorities (Italy) or the taxpayer with a special digital signature or QR Code. In some cases, an approved e-invoicing agent is required and it this is the route France e-invoicing will likely take from March 2026. This includes the following steps:
- The vendor issues an XML invoice through the RO e-invoicing platform
- Minimal validation and information requirement checks are performed. In the event of a failure, the vendor is notified to make a correction and resubmit.
- The Ministry of Public Finances will certify the invoice with its digital signature
- The invoice is sent to the customer, which is considered the tax point of the invoice for VAT purposes
RO e-transport reporting July 2022
In addition to e-invoicing, Romania is also introduced an electronic movement of goods register. This is similar to Hungary and India’s e-Way Bill.
e-transport starts 1 July 2022 with mandated journeys for high-risk goods (see above) having to be registered in accordance with API schema submission. Any movements must first be registered with ANAF via and XML document.
EU Digital Reporting Requirements and e-invoicing by 2028
EU VAT in the Digital Age reforms include a channel for harmonised Digital Reporting Requirements (DRR) and Continuous Transaction Controls (CTC) by EU states. This grew from the 2020 Tax Package proposals for a fairer and more efficient EU tax regime.
Our VAT Calculator tax engine can provide instant global VAT or GST calculations for your e-invoicing or real-time reporting obligations.
