Romania launches new e-invoicing system – “RO e-Factura”

The official Gazette on November 8, 2021 published the Minister of Finance’s Order approving the procedure for the use and operation of a new national system of electronic invoicing – the RO e-Factura. 

In order to use the new RO e-Factura system, businesses issuing and receiving electronic invoices must be registered in the Romania’s tax authority (ANAF)’s Private Virtual Space (SPV) app and the RO e-Factura Register. Contracting public authorities and entities receiving the electronic invoice must be registered in the Romanian Register of Public Entities.  

Under RO e-Factura, e-invoices must be generated in a pre-defined XML format meeting the new “RO_CIUS” invoice standard (which in turn meets the SR EN 16931-1 European standard for e-invoicing). Following the transmission of the invoice to the RO e-Factura system via either an API or App, a unique identification number will automatically be assigned.  

The system carries out several verification and validation procedures on the e-invoice including: 

• structure and syntax checks
• semantic and logic checks
• identity of issuer (authenticity of origin)
• integrity of the invoice content  
• no VAT checks initially – although these will be added 

After these checks an automatic reply message will be generated and if it is successfully validated it will be electronically signed with the signature of the Ministry of Finance. For B2G supplies, the recipient of the invoice will be required to receive and download the e-invoice via the Ministry of Finance’s FOREXEBUG portal. B2B recipients will be able to access and download the e-invoice via an API or App connected to the RO e-Factura system. 

Electronic invoices and messages communicated between the issuer and the recipient will remain available in the RO e-Factura system for 60 days and will then subsequently be archived electronically and obtained only on request. Romania already has existing rules in place around digital signatures and archiving of e-invoices. 

While RO e-Factura has initially been designed for B2G use, it can be used on voluntary basis for B2B applying the same rules and it is anticipated that B2B e-invoicing will become mandatory with RO e-Factura system being scaled for wider compulsory use and possibly as early as January 2023. Romania’s VAT Gap is estimated at 34.9 % and totalling RON 35,166 of lost VAT. In relative terms, the VAT Gap in Romania was the largest in the EU in 2019 and it is therefore no surprise that the Government wishes to close this gap through the introduction of e-invoicing. 

Romania joins a growing list of countries which have introduced e-invoicing or will do in the near future, including Italy, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, Vietnam and Saudi Arabia. As a result, businesses trading across territories are starting to think strategically rather than tactically and seeking to implement an e-invoicing solution that is scalable across countries and regions rather than purchase multiple individual local solutions as and when new mandates appear. 

Find out more about Avalara’s e-invoicing solution.