In the public space, there is intense talk about the fiscal changes brought by the Government in the famous package, but everyone seems to have forgotten about the electronic invoice – Ro-e Invoice.
Before the controversial tax package that the Cabinet at Victoria Palace took responsibility for, business people were focused on the tax changes that were already a certainty and one not worth ignoring – mandatory electronic invoicing, from 2024, on the B2B line (business to business).
In this sense, EY Romania specialists remind us that at the end of July 2023, the EU Council approved the derogation regarding the adoption of the generalized e-Invoice in Romania with applicability for the period January 1, 2024 – December 31, 2026. The national legislation that must be established is expected at least the date from which the e-Invoice obligation comes into effect and the categories of economic operators that must comply with the new rules.
The Romanian private sector is not ready for Ro e-Invoice
Although they had some time to comply with the new rules that will apply from the first month of 2024, local managers declare themselves unprepared for this new billing system.
83% of the responding companies state that they would not be ready for January 1, 2024 as the starting date for issuing invoices through the RO e-Invoice system, while only 17% say that they are ready.
“Nowhere have I seen a more accelerated transformation of tax reporting in digital format than in Romania. SAF-T, RO-transport, e-Invoice for goods with high fiscal risk and the B2G channel and here we are now waiting for the next steps for B2B electronic invoice at a generalized level”, stated Georgiana Iancu, Partner, Indirect Tax Practice Coordinator and Fiscal Digitization EY Romania.
The electronic invoice becomes mandatory from January 1, 2024
Here’s what EY specialists think about the new tax change: “Regarding the implementation of the generalized e-Invoice in the B2B relationship, it is important to look at what other EU member states have done. Italy, Poland and France have started for some time the steps for the adoption of e-Invoicing on a generalized level, Romania and Germany have just obtained the derogation from the EU Council.
An analysis of the best practices regarding e-Invoicing at the EU level should contribute to the establishment of a system as efficient as possible, once the transition to e-Invoicing is widespread.
The main directions observed are: the time countries took to implement e-Invoice – between 9 months to 2 and a half years, phased implementation according to taxpayer categories – France, Poland, Italy, as well as e-Invoice that original document for domestic transactions”, is the opinion of Georgiana Constantin, Senior Manager, Indirect Taxes, EY Romania.
“The main objective, for the authorities, of switching to the e-Invoice system is to prevent and combat fraud, because we will have the possibility of identifying all the inconsistencies in the data reported by taxpayers and we will be able to intervene in real time to remedy them.
Equally important is the objective of increasing fiscal transparency, especially in the area of public procurement. The implementation of the e-Invoice system is, moreover, beneficial for both parties, the authorities and the business environment, which will have at its disposal a very good working tool, both in the relationship with the state and in the relationship with other business partners”, explained Iulian Ardeleanu, Director General, General Directorate of Fiscal Legislation and Customs and Accounting Regulations, Ministry of Finance.
Ro e-Invoice, problems
Unfortunately, although change is around the corner, there are some uncertainties, explained and highlighted by tax specialists.
A problem would be represented by the fact that it is currently unclear how to proceed in the case of invoices issued in the name of the employee or in the case of invoices issued by the client in the name of the supplier.
“Here it must be seen, because, indeed, if they continue to be issued in the name of the employee, technically, this does not really allow their transmission. But nevertheless, they are valid invoices that you record in your accounting. (…) Speaking of the situations with travel statements, where, indeed, the invoices can also be drawn up in the name of the employee… there are many particular situations that will have to be analyzed and we can tell you that, from the discussions so far, there are many situations that are not clarified due to technical aspects regarding the conversion and transmission of invoices in e-Invoice.
These travel bills are a situation. Another situation, with which many of you will probably meet, is the situation of invoices issued by the client on behalf of the supplier – basically, you will still have the possibility to have such agreements, but the technical way to allow this arrangement to continue and after January 1, 2024. We must follow closely the developments on technical requirements that should come from the authorities”, pointed out Adina Vizoli, Director of PwC Romania.
Electronic invoicing, a complex process
The Pwc Romania specialist also wants to bring to the attention of local managers the fact that with the implementation of the new invoicing system, domestic companies will have to pay special attention to the archiving part.
“For the archiving part, if we mean what happens after July 1, 2024, we will definitely need to electronically archive the XML message of the invoices received from partners, which we will download from the Virtual Private Space. So, in addition to a system that allows you to convert for issued invoices, if you do not have issued invoices that fall within the scope of e-Invoice, then you will still need to have a solution that allows you to extract and archive electronically of the invoices you will receive from the partners”, explained the specialist.
Companies will need investments for RO e-Invoice
Another aspect that companies must prepare for in 2024 concerns the necessary investments.
Specialists draw attention to the fact that the IT area within companies needs support in this context.
“The new companies that will have to comply will need investment in new IT systems and personal training, but also at the authorities’ level we will need resources to prepare for the effective enrollment of companies. We are analyzing whether this should be done in stages, so as to effectively integrate e-Invoicing into the Romanian fiscal system.
There is now no question of sanctions for those who will not succeed in perfect compliance, because our interest is to have as many companies as possible in the system”, stated Iulian Ardeleanu, Director General, General Directorate of Fiscal Legislation and Customs Regulations and Accountant, Ministry of Finance.
