As of January 2024, Romania is set to enact substantial changes to its e-invoicing landscape. Companies violating the new mandatory requirements risk incurring severe penalties. Take steps now to avoid getting into difficulty: Using Retarus E-Invoicing, you can be certain that you are sending and receiving invoices in a timely and compliant manner.
The upcoming changes apply to all companies based in Romania or who have a permanent office established in the country. To avoid being hit by imminent fines, such organizations urgently need to adapt their billing and tax processes to comply with the new regulations.
Mandatory e-invoicing in Romania: A brief overview
The regulations already in place:
- Electronic invoicing has been mandatory for all transactions with Romanian public sector institutions (Business-to-Government, B2G) since July 1, 2022 – for more details, see Romanian Government Ordinance 130/2021 .
- The obligation to issue electronic invoices has been applicable for the B2B transactions since July 1, 2022 for automobile dealers and vendors of products with a “high tax risk” (i.e. prone to tax evasion). Companies subject to these regulations are additionally required to use the government’s e-Transport system to declare all shipment of goods.
The upcoming changes:
- As of January 1, 2024, electronic invoicing will become mandatory for all companies based in Romania engaging in B2B transactions for goods and services delivered in the country.
- This regulation will remain valid until December 2026 or until the EU member states are required to bring their national provisions in line with the EU directive “ViDA – VAT in the Digital Age” – whichever comes earlier.
- Romania has the option of applying to the EU Commission for an extension beyond December 31, 2026.
Fines and sanctions
Companies failing to adhere to the regulations following a short grace period which ends on March 31, 2024, face penalties for non-compliance. Depending on the size of the company, the fines could amount to between 1,000 RON and 10,000 RON (around €2,000). Domestic taxpayers who receive invoices for B2B transactions outside of the e-invoicing system may have fines imposed up to the total of the value added tax shown on the invoice.
How “RO e-Factura” works
The national Romanian e-invoicing platform, RO for short, was launched in November 2021 for submitting invoices for both the B2G and B2B scenarios. The platform is sometimes also referred to as ANAF (the acronym for the Romanian finance ministry). The key details at a glance:
- “RO” enables companies and organizations to submit and download electronic invoices. The platform stores e-invoices for 60 days, during which time their recipients are obliged to download them.
- Both sender and recipient are required to keep the invoices they have issued or received for at least 10 years.
- The bills need to be issued in the prescribed “RO_CIUS” XML format.
- The deadline for submitting invoices is 5 working days from the date the bill was issued.
- Once the invoice has been validated, the platform adds the Ministry of Finance’s signature to prevent any details being altered.
SAF-T in Romania
The Standard Audit File for Tax (SAF-T) is the OECD standard for the electronic sharing of accounting data between organizations and their authorities. Since 2022, SAF-T has been mandatory for all Romanian companies as well as foreign companies subject to VAT and registered in Romania. The e-invoicing framework is being introduced in phases:
- March 2022 – Large taxpayers
- July 2022 – Companies categorized as large taxpayers
- January 2023 – Mid-sized taxpayers
- 2025 – Small businesses
The accounting and tax information must be transferred to the Romanian tax authority (ANAF) embedded into a PDF in SAF-T D406 format. There is a duty to report tax details within the respective VAT (value added tax) period, assets and inventory.
Upcoming changes
As of July 2024, RO e-Factura will be the only permissible channel for submitting B2B invoices. From that point onwards, recipients will also face fines should they continue to receive invoices in any other channel or form. In this way, the change will not only have an impact on a company’s accounting systems but also extend to other areas of the business including its legal relations. This makes adapting processes, management systems and processes unavoidable.
For our Retarus E-Invoicing customers, we take care of all the necessary changes. The cost-efficient cloud service, developed with EDI DNA and more than 27 years’ experience, complies with international regulations and fulfills a wide range of local technical requirements for the most diverse countries. As a certified Peppol Access Point and a member of local e-invoicing associations, Retarus provides its customers with legally compliant e-invoicing for B2G, B2B and B2C in Europe and around the globe – always in line with international standards.
Should you need to take urgent action to avoid falling foul of regulatory requirements, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with our experienced e-invoicing experts. They will be pleased to advise you on how you can still set up a connection with the Romanian authorities before the upcoming deadline.
PS: Did you already know? Retarus also offers express services in case internal delays have put you behind schedule …
