The obligation to issue electronic invoices and to transmit them through the national RO e-Invoice system rests with:

• Economic operators that sell products with high fiscal risk in the B2B (Business to Business) relationship

The list of products with high fiscal risk is detailed in OPANAF no. 12/2022 and includes the following product categories:

1. Vegetables, fruits, edible roots and tubers, other edible plants (CN codes from 0701-0714; CN codes from 0801-0814);
2. Alcoholic beverages (CN codes from 2203-2208);
3. New constructions, according to the definition in the Fiscal Code;
4. Mineral products: natural mineral water, sand and gravel (CN codes from 2201-2202, NC 2505, NC 2517);
5. Clothing and footwear (CN codes from 6401 to 6405, CN codes from 6101 to 6117, NC codes from 6201 to 6212 and NC codes from 6214 to 6217).

• Economic operators who are in a B2G (Business to Government) relationship

Regardless of whether it is for the provision of services or the delivery of goods, they have the obligation to issue electronic invoices and transmit them in the national RO e-Invoice system.

A B2G type business relationship is considered the relationship through which an economic operator has the capacity of contractor or subcontractor / subcontractor according to Law no. 98/2016, Law no. 99/2016, Law no. 100/2016 and GEO no. 114/2011.

• Affiliated units (i.e. economic operators that provide tourism services in a B2C – Business to Consumer relationship), for invoices issued to holders of holiday vouchers issued on any type of support.

It is also interesting and useful to mention the fact that, if initially it was understood that the obligation to report through the RO e-Invoice system only applies to local deliveries of goods with high fiscal risk, in the Guide published by ANAF in December 2022 it is specified that reporting in the system RO e-Invoice is also mandatory for invoices issued to customers outside Romania.

The electronic invoice represents the invoice issued, transmitted and received in a structured electronic format of XML type, which allows its electronic and automatic processing. The structure of the electronic invoice must comply with the technical and usage specifications provided by the European standards and the specific operational rules applicable at the national level.

The main elements of the electronic invoice provided for in the legislation are the following:

• process and invoice identifiers;
• invoice date;
• information regarding the identification of the economic operator who delivered the goods/products, rendered the services or executed the works;
• information regarding the recipient of the electronic invoice;
• information on the beneficiary of the payment;
• information regarding the fiscal representative of the issuer;
• identification of the type of goods/products delivered, services provided or works performed;
• the reference to the public/sectoral procurement contract, concession of works and services, as well as, as the case may be, to the public procurement contract in the fields of defense and security;
• details regarding the execution of works, the delivery of goods/products or the provision of services;
• payment instructions and information regarding credits or debits;
• information regarding the positions on the invoice;
• breakdown of VAT and the total invoice.

The technical information published by ANAF in relation to RO e-Invoice can be found by accessing the following link: https://mfinante.gov.ro/web/efactura/informatii-tehnice.

Starting from April 1, 2022, the affiliated units are obliged to transmit in the RO e-Invoice system the invoices issued to the holders of holiday vouchers issued on any type of support.

Starting from July 1, 2022:

• the entities that sell in a B2B relationship products considered with high fiscal risk are obliged to send the invoices issued in the RO e-Invoice system, regardless of whether or not the recipients are registered in the RO e-Invoice Registry.
• the entities that are in a B2G relationship are obliged to issue electronic invoices and transmit them through the RO e-Invoice system, for all types of goods delivered and services provided.

However, the legislation applicable at this moment does not provide a deadline by which the invoices must be reported in the e-Invoice system, but only provides the date from which the issued invoices should also be reported in the RO e-invoice system. Moreover, the applicable legislation at this moment does not provide for a sanction for not reporting invoices in the RO e-invoice system.

The electronic invoice is sent by the issuer in the RO e-Invoice system through the SPV (Virtual Private Space), in the section dedicated to e-Invoice. Thus, it is vital that the economic operators are registered in advance in the SPV in order to be able to send the e-Invoices.

There are two ways to send the electronic invoice:

• Interconnection of the invoicing application available at the issuer level with the RO e-invoice system, using a series of microservices exposed in the form of an API (Application Programming Interface).

The technical documentation for microservices and applications is available at: https://mfinante.gov.ro/web/efactura/informatii-tehnice

This method of transmission allows the automatic loading of several XML files (that is, several e-Invoices) at the same time in the SPV of the issuer, but it involves prior software development.

• The use of applications made available free of charge by the Ministry of Finance and the transmission of XMLs generated through the SPV of the issuer.

The web application provided by the Ministry of Finance for completing e-Invoices and generating the related XML can be accessed using the following link: https://www.anaf.ro/CompletareFactura/faces/factura/informatiigenerale.xhtml

One of the challenges of this method of transmission is the fact that each XML must be generated individually, invoice by invoice, and then uploaded to the SPV in the dedicated e-Invoice section. In the case of a significant number of invoices that must be transmitted in the RO e-invoice system, this one-by-one approach can become difficult and subject to human error.

If the electronic invoice sent complies with the structure provided by the legislation, the electronic seal of the Ministry of Finance is applied and it is automatically communicated to the recipient, in his virtual private space (SPV). The application of the electronic seal of the Ministry of Finance certifies its receipt in the RO e-Invoice system.

In the event that the electronic invoice sent does not respect the correct structure, the issuer receives a message with the identified errors. After correcting the identified errors, the transmission of the electronic invoice is tried again.

The original copy of the electronic invoice is considered the XML type file accompanied by the electronic seal of the Ministry of Finance and the date of communication of the electronic invoice to the recipient is considered the date when the electronic invoice is available for download from the RO e-Invoice system, if both the issuer and and the recipient of the electronic invoice are registered in the RO e-Invoice Register.

For invoices issued by issuers registered in the RO e-Invoice Register to recipients who are not registered in the RO e-Invoice Register, the provisions of art. 319 of Law no. 227/2015 regarding the Fiscal Code.

Registration in the RO e-Invoice Registry is only carried out by entities that do not have the obligation to use this system but wish to use the RO e-Invoice system as an option.

Entities that are required to issue and transmit e-Invoices can do so without being registered in the RO e-invoice Register.

Be careful, however, that optional registration in the RO e-Invoice Register leads to the obligation to report all invoices through the RO e-Invoice system, and not just those for which reporting is mandatory.

From a procedural point of view, the registration of issuers in the RO e-Invoice Register is done by submitting the form (084) “Request for registration in the RO e-Invoice Register/waiving the request for registration in the RO e-Invoice Register”, with section III checked .

The registration in the RO e-Invoice Register is valid starting from the 1st of the month following the submission of form 084, and the cancellation of the request for registration in the RO e-Invoice can be done until the 1st of the month following the submission of the registration request.

In other words, if a taxpayer does not decide relatively quickly that he should not register in the RO e-invoice Registry after all, and the deadline of the 1st of the month following the submission of Form 084 for registration in the register is exceeded, there is no longer a legal framework to allows the exit from the RO e-Invoice system and the respective entity must issue and transmit all invoices through the RO e-Invoice system.

The RO e-Invoice register can be accessed using the link below and based on the CUI: https://www.anaf.ro/anaf/internet/ANAF/servicii_online/registre/registrul_eFactura