The Romanian authorities have launched a simplified application for issuing electronic invoices in XML format for micro-enterprises. This simplified version of the e-Factura application, specially designed to meet the needs of small businesses, promises an easier user experience thanks to the intuitive interface and optimized functionalities to facilitate the process of correctly completing invoices.

According to the Ministry of Finance, the simplified e-Factura application was made at the request of the business environment and is designed to help the more than 600,000 small taxpayers in Romania, and will soon be available in English as well.

The improved version of e-Factura offers a number of advantages and functionalities that significantly simplify the management of invoices, including an intuitive interface and automatic options that facilitate correct and faster filling of invoices. For example, specialized and automatic guides have been introduced, as well as tax percentages in a selectable format, and VAT nomenclature has been narrowed down to the most commonly used for domestic transactions. These improvements are intended to support micro-enterprises in particular and facilitate e-Factura reporting, removing technological barriers and reducing red tape.

At the same time, the official Guide for the use of e-Factura was republished by the Romanian authorities, the document reflecting several legislative innovations and legislative clarifications contained in GEO no. 115/2023, published towards the end of last year, as well as some technical updates operated in the invoice reporting platform.

Although it is not an exhaustive document that answers all the practical dilemmas that arise in the implementation of the electronic invoicing system, it is useful as a starting point in any theoretical documentation about the application of the system and its general framework of use.

Among the most important novelties introduced in the document is the expansion of reporting exceptions. The list of types of invoices that must not be sent in the system has been expanded, being added to the Guide and the following operations that are exempt from reporting in e-Factura:

• supplies of goods or services rendered to taxable persons who are neither established nor registered for VAT purposes in Romania (according to art. 266 par. 2 and, respectively, art. 316 of the Fiscal Code);
• deliveries of goods or services for which simplified invoices are issued (according to the provisions of art. 319 paragraph 12 of the Fiscal Code);
• the provision of services for which the issuing of the invoice is not subject to the invoicing rules applicable in Romania (according to art. 319 paragraph 5 of the Fiscal Code).

The authorities have also updated the section in the document detailing the sanctions applicable from July 1, 2024, as well as the deadline for submitting invoices applicable from this date. Thus, it is specified that, starting from July, the deadline for sending invoices will be five calendar days (compared to five working days until June 30, 2024), but no later than 5 calendar days from the deadline provided in the Code fiscal for issuing the invoice. From the perspective of issuers, from July 1, non-compliance with the deadline for the submission of invoices in the national RO e-Factura electronic invoice system constitutes a misdemeanor and is sanctioned with a fine from 5,000 lei to 10,000 lei – for large taxpayers, with a fine from 2,500 lei to 5,000 lei – for medium taxpayers and with a fine from 1,000 lei to 2,500 lei – for other legal entities, as well as for natural persons.

At the same time, the issuer’s failure to transmit the invoice in the national RO e-Factura electronic invoice system, as well as the recipient’s receipt and registration of an invoice issued and not reported in the system, constitutes a contravention and is sanctioned with a fine equal to 15% of the total amount of the invoice.

The guide has also been completed with details on what happens when the e-Factura does not work. The document also included very important specifications that allow the suspension of the obligation to report in the e-Factura for periods when the platform does not work for at least 24 hours. In addition, the Guide also establishes that, during the period in which the national electronic invoice system RO e-Factura is not functional, the issuer will continue to invoice according to the provisions of the Fiscal Code, with the condition of subsequent transmission, in the national system regarding the electronic invoice RO e-Factura, of electronic invoices issued.

The document also states that the periods of non-operation of the national electronic invoicing system will be published on the websites of the National Agency for Fiscal Administration and the Ministry of Finance.

The guide has also been completed with a new functionality of the system, which did not exist until now, which allows the download of invoices from the platform in PDF format. More precisely, in the Guide it was stated that invoices can also be downloaded in PDF format. Until now, the only available option was to download the files as XML, which must then be converted by another application to PDF format.

Article published in TaxNews