From January 1, 2024, the e-Factura system will become mandatory for a wide range of economic operators. The organization and functioning of this system are laid down in GEO no. 120/2021. The system is aimed at storing invoices electronically, transmitting them to the recipient and receiving the electronic invoice from the issuer in compliance with the structure set out in Art. 4 para. (2).
It is applicable to B2B and B2G transactions carried out by economic operators – taxable persons established in Romania pursuant to Art. 266 para. (2) of Law no. 227/2015, as subsequently amended and supplemented, whether or not they are registered for VAT purposes.
Therefore, the applicable scope is not only limited to SRLs, but also includes PFAs, Sole Proprietorships, Family Businesses and even NGOs with economic activity. The obligation also extends to transactions with foreign customers, in cases where the place of supply is considered to be in Romania for VAT purposes.
The Ministry of Finance and ANAF have published a guide for taxpayers regarding the implementation of electronic invoicing. According to the guidance from the two institutions, this implementation has been done gradually. To begin with, between January 1 and June 30, 2024, economic operators were obliged to report in the RO e-Factura system all invoices issued in B2B relations and with public institutions, except for those in B2G relations, for which the obligation already existed since July 1, 2022. Thereafter, as of July 1, 2024, the obligation was introduced for invoice recipients to receive and process only invoices sent through the RO e-Factura system, according to art. 319, para. (11) of the Tax Code.
An important detail is the provisions of Article 10 para. (7) of GEO no. 120/2021: “the deadline for the transmission of invoices in the national electronic invoice system RO e-Factura is 5 calendar days from the date of issue of the invoice, but not later than 5 calendar days from the deadline for the issue of the invoice provided for in Art. 319 para. (16) of Law no. 227/2015, as subsequently amended and supplemented“.
Failure to comply with these deadlines may constitute a contravention, if not committed under conditions according to which it would be considered an offense under the law. Fines of between 500 and 10,000 depending on the category of taxpayer may be imposed.
As regards the procedure for sending and receiving invoices via the RO e-Factura system, a digital electronic signature certificate registered with ANAF is required. Taxpayers have the option of using their own certificate or that of their accountant, depending on the software program used to issue invoices.
The RO e-Factura system represents a development in the financial and tax field in our country. The above-mentioned Emergency Ordinance aims at modernizing the invoicing mode, ensuring institutional transparency and achieving interoperability with the invoicing systems of economic operators, according to art. 16 of GEO 120/2021.
It is also interesting to see the provision of para. (2) of the same article: “All functionalities of the national electronic invoice system RO e-Invoice used by the enrolled economic operators shall also be accessible to them through machine-to-machine digital services, i.e. programmable application interfaces“. Thus, the national RO e-Invoicing system is designed to be compatible and communicate efficiently with the existing invoicing systems of economic operators, thus facilitating its integration and use in practice.
