Combatting fraud through excessive ”E-” initiatives (transport, invoice, reporting)

July 1, 2024

B2B E-Invoicing

The implementation of e-invoicing in Romania is carried out in two stages.

Stage 1, called Romanian E-reporting, runs from January 1, 2024 to June 30, 2024. During this period, taxpayers are required to report all invoices issued in domestic transactions to Romanian established taxpayers, foreign VAT registered businesses in Romania, and public institutions. This reporting must be done in the national electronic invoice system RO e-Factura. This obligation also extends to non-established taxable persons registered for VAT purposes in Romania.
Stage 2, Romanian E-invoicing, starts on July 1, 2024. From this date, established businesses must issue and exchange electronic invoices using the national system RO E-Factura. Recipients must be registered in the RO e-Factura platform in order to receive the invoices. All established businesses must be able to issue and receive e-invoices by July 1, 2024 via e-Factura. Non-established suppliers will continue to submit invoice details via e-reporting, a near real-time reporting of invoices.

E-transport System

The RO e-Transport system has been introduced in Romania to monitor road transport of goods domestically and internationally.
The system applies to all international goods transport, including intra-community purchases and deliveries, imports, exports, and intra-community transits through Romania.
Certain goods, such as vegetables, fruits, beverages, clothing, footwear, metals, meat, and tobacco, require mandatory e-transportation regardless of financial risk.
Companies must register each transport in the system to receive a unique UIT code, which, along with transport documents, ensures compliance and tracking.
Non-compliance with the system can result in fines ranging from RON 20,000 to RON 100,000, as well as the confiscation of undeclared goods.

January 1, 2025

e-vat Prefilled VAT returns

The Romanian Tax Authorities have introduced a new prefilled VAT return system, where they will gather information from various sources to prepopulate VAT returns for taxable persons.
Taxable persons must verify the provided return against their own records and report any significant discrepancies.
The system will collect information from sources such as e-invoicing, SAF-T statement, e-cash registers, e-transport system, customs information system, e-seal, and other Ministry of Finance systems.
The prefilled VAT return does not replace the traditional VAT return, and taxpayers are still required to submit their VAT returns through the usual process.
The prefilled return is a tool to help the tax office verify the information they have on record and identify any discrepancies.
The prefilled VAT return will be available five days before the VAT return deadline, and taxpayers are expected to reconcile the data with their records. If material discrepancies are detected, taxpayers will have 10 days to explain these differences.
The system is set to launch on 1 August 2024.

B2C E-Invoicing

The Romanian Ministry of Finance issued Urgent Ordinance 69/2024 on June 21, 2024, expanding the electronic invoicing mandate to include business-to-consumer (B2C) transactions. The existing e-invoicing regime, implemented through the RO-eFactura system, currently applies to business-to-government (B2G) transactions and high-risk business-to-business (B2B) sales and goods transportation. Starting July 1, 2024, all B2B transactions will fall under the e-invoicing mandate, and standard invoicing practices must be updated to comply with e-invoicing. The government aims to implement the National Information System RO e-VAT by August 1, 2024, to pre-fill VAT return information and enhance control over compliance and tax evasion levels. Taxpayers will have the option to submit B2C invoices through the RO-eFactura system from July 1, 2024, with mandatory compliance for all taxpayers from January 1, 2025, except for certain exceptions.

SAF-T Reporting Obligation for Non-Established Taxpayers

Romania is gradually introducing the SAF-T (Standard Audit File for Tax) reporting obligation, which will be required for non-established taxpayers starting from January 2025.
The SAF-T reporting requirement initially applied to large taxpayers established in Romania from January 2022, but the implementation for these taxpayers was postponed to January 2023.
The Romanian SAF-T, known as the D406 form, covers five sections: General Ledger, Accounts Receivable, Accounts Payable, Fixed Assets, and Inventory.
The content of the D406 form is more extensive than the current 390 Recapitulative Statement.
The submission of the D406 form must be done electronically, with a PDF file and XML attachment, and the frequency of filing corresponds to the frequency of filing VAT returns for taxpayers registered for VAT in Romania.

Sources

Cash Registers