Global Daily Tax News, Romania Fine-Tuning New Electronic Invoicing Platform, (Jan 24, 2024)

Romania is instituting improvements to the country's electronic invoicing framework, in collaboration with software providers.

Romania launched electronic invoicing obligations for business-to-business transactions from January 1, 2024, through "RO e-Factura". Invoices must be transmitted to RO e-Factura within five working days from the date of a supply of goods or services in Romania. According to the Government, over 10 million invoices have now been successfully registered.

Two online meetings were held last week to discuss technical solutions to issues identified with early implementation, with participation from 175 stakeholders. A further two meetings are being held with taxpayers and their agents, to address any concerns and answer questions regarding the initiative.

As a result of engagement, the Government has confirmed that, as of January 16, the system no longer allows entering duplicate invoices.

Romanian authorities are also working on the implementation of an option for invoices to be sent by another party on behalf of the supplier.

Romanian Finance Minister Marcel Bolos said: "Few believed that we would be the fourth country in the European Union to succeed in implementing this system, which we have said from the very beginning is vital to our fight against evasion."

"So far there have been no periods of time in which the system did not work. The CNIF/ANAF team has started working closely with companies that offer accounting services with the e-Invoice system, so that any improvements that can make taxpayers' lives easier are implemented. We do not exclude that difficulties may arise and that aspects that require improvement may be identified, which is precisely why the approach is as constructive as possible; we are with the taxpayers and no penalties are applied until April. We are committed to being flexible and responsive to feedback; I think that's the most important thing. In the end, we will certainly overcome all the difficulties and ensure that the e-Invoice system is a robust and adaptable solution to the ever-changing needs of the business environment."