Regulatory updates - Romania

The Romanian government has circulated draft legislation on the upcoming obligation to report invoices for B2C transactions. Legislation passed in June 2024 established the requirement for taxpayers engaging in business-to-consumer transactions to transmit electronic invoices as of January 2025. The draft legislation supplements and clarifies select aspects related to the expansion of the mandate.

To begin with, the inclusion of simplified invoices differs from previously published information. Starting January 2025, the previously exempt simplified invoice, defined by the Fiscal Code as invoices with a value of 100 EUR or less, will be in the scope.

Furthermore, addressing previous GDPR concerns, the requirement for beneficiary information to be on the invoice has been removed. Invoice issuers may now use an arbitrary all zero 13-digit value in the field associated instead.

Pagero continues to monitor developments in Romania and analyze the requirements.

The announcement made by the Ministry of Finance mentions new changes being implemented, as well as the extension of grace periods to adopt the systems.

Previously, the grace period for compliance with the RO e-Transport system, in which no penalties were to be levied, was to end on 1 July 2024. The grace period has now been extended until 1 January 2025.

Authorized economic operators are explicitly mentioned in connection with the new measures and timelines associated with the RO e-Transport system. The remaining changes for the digital systems have been passed into law by this Emergency Ordinance.

The Romanian Minister of Finance announced the plan to extend e-invoicing requirements from 1 January 2025, with optional use becoming available from 1 July 2024 for B2C transactions. The extension will facilitate ANAF’s (Romanian Tax Authority) reception of accurate invoice data. This data will be further used in pre-filled e-vat returns, a vital tool in Romania’s fight against tax evasion.

The extended requirements encompass all taxable persons issuing invoices directly to consumers. The B2C transactions will have to be reported in the RO e-Factura system. B2C transactions related to tourism and holiday vouchers have required the reporting of electronic invoices since April 2022, so it seems that the extension of regulations will be applied to the remainder of the sector. However, more information is yet to come.

Parties exempted from the e-invoicing obligation in this context include:

• Taxable persons issuing invoices for transactions not subject to VAT;
• Diplomatic missions and consular offices;
• Branches of the Romanian armed forces;
• The European National Bank;
• And more.

Specific associations, foundations, and farmers operating under the special regime will also be required to adhere to the new requirements, beginning 1 July 2025.

Pagero closely monitors these developments. Once the Romanian government clarifies further reporting requirements and timelines, our stakeholders will be notified in due time.

The draft emergency ordinance extends the grace period from 31 March to 31 May. The sanctions for which the grace period applies are for not complying with the 5-working-days invoice reporting requirement of a taxable event/initial issuance of an invoice.

The draft legislation also clarifies the context in which the penalties will be levied. Previously, it was unclear if non-compliance sanctions would be applicable per invoice. Now, it is stated that for one or more invoices in each calendar month, the following penalties will apply:

• RON 1000 to 2500 (ca. EUR 200 to 500) – small taxpayers, legal persons, and ‘other’ legal entities;
• RON 2500 to 5000 (ca. EUR 500 to 1000) – medium taxpayers;
• RON 5000 to 10000 (ca. EUR 1000 to 2000) – large taxpayers.

While the draft law still needs to be approved, it is anticipated this will happen soon.

Reporting on the transportation of high-risk fiscal goods in the RO e-Transport system has been required since July 2022. The scope of required users and scenarios for use of the system has now been expanded to include instances of international transport, regardless of whether goods are considered high risk. International road transport encompasses transport to and from both Member States and third countries.

According to Emergency Ordinance 115/2023, as of 1 March 2024, the following goods will now be considered high fiscal risk:

• Meat and edible organs (CN codes from 0201 to 0210);
• Fish and crustaceans, molluscs, and other aquatic invertebrates (CN codes 0302, 0304 and 0306);
• Milk and dairy products; bird eggs; natural honey; edible animal products, not specified and not included elsewhere (CN codes from 0401 to 0407 and 0409);
• Unprocessed tobacco; raw tobacco and tobacco waste (CN code 2401);
• Other processed tobacco and tobacco substitutes; homogenized or reconstituted tobaccos; tobacco extracts and essences (NC code 2403);
• Tobacco products or tobacco and/or nicotine substitutes, tobacco intended for inhalation without burning; other products containing nicotine intended for the absorption of nicotine in the human body (NC code 2404).

For the transport of both high-risk fiscal goods and international transport, the requirement to obtain an ITU code remains, as well as the requirement to adhere to the telecommunication requirements associated with the system.

Penalties for non-compliance with the new RO e-Transport system requirements will take effect on 1 July 2024.