Law 296/2023 on some fiscal and budgetary measures to ensure Romania's long-term financial sustainability was published in the Official Gazette no. 977/27.10.2023. 

I. Measures to ensure fiscal compliance

1 - Measures to prevent and combat illicit economic activities

It is forbidden to carry out economic activities by persons who are not organized in accordance with the legal provisions in force and to carry out economic activities during the period in which they are suspended. The non-compliance with this provision constitutes a contravention, if it was not committed under such conditions as to be considered, according to the criminal law, a crime, and is sanctioned with a fine from 2,000 lei to 15,000 lei, if it is committed by natural persons, respectively with a fine from 5,000 lei to 35,000 lei, if it is carried out by legal entities.

It is forbidden to carry out economic activities with goods that are not accompanied by documents of provenance, regardless of where they are, during transport, storage or marketing. Documents of provenance mean, as the case may be, the invoice, the goods accompanying notice, customs documents or any other supporting documents provided by law that form the basis of the registration in accounting, in physical or electronic format. The goods intended for, used or resulting from this contravention, as well as the sums of money and goods acquired by committing the contravention are confiscated. The non-compliance with these provisions constitutes a contravention, if it was not committed under such conditions as to be considered, according to the criminal law, a crime, and is sanctioned with a fine from 2,000 lei to 15,000 lei if it is committed by natural persons, respectively with a fine from 5,000 lei to 30,000 lei if it is carried out by legal entities. When applying the sanction, the investigating agent is obliged to notify the offender of the sanctions to be applied, if he commits another contravention within a period of 12 months from the date of application of the last sanction. The goods intended, used or resulting from this contravention are made unavailable, in order to be confiscated.

Cash and cash substitutes are assimilated to goods for which it is necessary to present legal documents of origin.

In all cases in which the existence of circumstances concerning the commission of acts provided for by the criminal law in relation to the presented documents are found, the competent criminal investigation bodies are notified.

The detection of contraventions and the application of contravention sanctions are done by the authorized persons from the National Agency for Fiscal Administration and the Romanian Customs Authority, as well as by the authorized persons from the National Authority for Consumer Protection.

To the extent that it is not ordered otherwise, the provisions of this section are supplemented with those of Government Ordinance no. 2/2001, with subsequent amendments and additions.

Effective date: November 11^th, 2023.

2 - Measures to strengthen financial and fiscal discipline, increase voluntary compliance in the case of road transport of goods

In order to ensure compliance with the traceability of road transport of goods on the territory of Romania, the National RO e-Sigiliu System is established.

The national RO e-Sigiliu system is a system based on the use of electronic devices and a computer application that allows the competent authorities to determine the potential diversion points of road transport of goods, regardless of whether they are in transit or have an economic operator from the national territory as their final destination.

Electronic devices represent the smart seal that records data and transmits status and position information to the computer application in order to track the movement of goods by road.

The application of smart seals and the monitoring of road transport of goods on the national territory is carried out by the National Agency for Administration Fiscal and the Romanian Customs Authority based on a risk analysis. The procedure regarding the establishment of the risk criteria underlying the analysis, the application of smart seals and the monitoring of road transport of goods are established by a joint order of the president of the National Agency for Administration Fiscal and the president of the Romanian Customs Authority drawn up within 60 days from the date of publication of this law in the Official Gazette of Romania.

The national RO e-Sigiliu system is used and managed by the Ministry of Finance through the National Agency for Fiscal Administration, the Romanian Customs Authority and the National Center for Financial Information.

In the case of applying smart seals on means of transport, the driver has the obligation to ensure their integrity. Failure by the driver to fulfill this obligation constitutes a contravention, if it was not committed under such conditions as to be considered, according to criminal law, a crime and is sanctioned with a fine from 20,000 to 50,000 lei. The detection of the contravention and the application of the contravention sanction are done by the competent bodies within the National Agency for Fiscal Administration and the Romanian Customs Authority.

To the extent that it is not ordered otherwise, the provisions of Government Ordinance no. 2/2001, with subsequent amendments and additions.

Effective date: November 11^th, 2023.

3. The RO e Factura system 

Economic operators – taxable persons established in Romania, whether or not they are registered for VAT purposes according to art. 316 of Law no. 227/2015, for the deliveries of goods and the provision of services that take place in Romania, carried out in the B2B relationship, have the obligation between January 1^st, 2024 and June 30^th, 2024 to transmit the invoices issued in the national system regarding the RO e- Factura, regardless of whether or not the recipients are registered in the RO e-Factura Register.

B2B – represents the transaction having as its object the execution of works, the delivery of goods/products and/or the provision of services between two economic operators;

3.1 Economic operators – taxable persons established in Romania, whether or not they are registered for VAT purposes according to art. 316 of Law no. 227/2015, for the deliveries of goods and the provision of services that take place in Romania, carried out in the relationship with public institutions, other than those carried out in the B2G relationship, have the obligation between January 1^st, 2024 and June 30^th, 2024 to send the invoices issued in the national electronic invoice system RO e-Factura

3.2 The B2G relationship represents the transaction between an economic operator who has the capacity of contractor or subcontractor/subentrepreneur pursuant to Law no. 98/2016, with subsequent amendments and additions, Law no. 99/2016, with subsequent amendments  and  additions,  Law    100/2016,  with  subsequent amendments and additions, and Government Emergency Ordinance no. 114/2011 regarding the awarding of certain public procurement contracts in the fields of defense and security, approved with amendments and additions by Law no. 195/2012, with subsequent amendments and additions, and contracting authorities or contracting entities that receive and process electronic invoices.

3.3 Economic operators - non-established taxable persons, but registered for VAT purposes in Romania, for the supply of goods and the provision of services that have the place of delivery/provision in Romania, carried out in the B2B relationship, have the obligation starting from January 1^st, 2024, to transmit invoices issued in the national RO e-Factura electronic invoice system, regardless of whether or not the recipients are registered in the RO e-Factura Registry.

Exceptions to the provisions of points 3.1-3.3: exports and intra-community deliveries of goods.

3.4 The suppliers provided for in points 1-3 are obliged to send the invoices issued to the recipients according to the provisions of art. 319 of the Fiscal Code, except for the situation where both the supplier/provider and the recipient are registered in the RO e-Factura Register.

3.5 The deadline for sending the invoices provided for in points 3.1-3.3 in the national electronic invoice system RO e-Factura is 5 working days from the date of issuing the invoice, but no later than 5 working days from the deadline provided for issuing the invoice in art. 319 para. (16) of the Fiscal Code (at the latest until the 15^th day of the month following the one in which the event giving rise to VAT occurs).

3.6 Failure to comply with the provisions of point 5 constitutes a contravention and is sanctioned with a fine from 5,000 lei to 10,000 lei for legal entities classified as large taxpayers, defined according to the law, with a fine from 2,500 lei to 5,000 lei for legal entities classified as medium-sized taxpayers, defined according to the law, and with a fine from 1,000 lei to 2,500 lei, for other legal persons, as well as for natural persons.

Date of entry into force: January 1^st, 2024.

Note: Non-compliance with the provisions of point 3.5 during the period January 1^st - March 31^st, 2024, is not sanctioned.

ATTENTION: Starting from July 1^st, 2024, for transactions between taxable persons established in Romania, only invoices that meet the conditions provided for by Government Emergency Ordinance no. 120/2021 (electronic invoices sent through the RO e_FACTURA system).

II. Modification and completion of some normative acts

1. Fiscal Procedure Code (Law 207/2015)

According to art. 291 of the FPC, the competent authority in Romania communicates to the competent authority of any other member state, through automatic exchange, all the information that is available regarding the residents of the respective member state, regarding the following specific categories of income and capital, as are these understood based on the legal norms in force:

1. income from work;
2. remunerations paid to administrators and other persons assimilated to them;
3. life insurance products not covered by other legal instruments of the European Union regarding the exchange of information and other similar measures;
4. pensions;
5. ownership of real estate and income from real estate;
6. royalties.

➜ In order to achieve the mandatory automatic exchange of information, the local fiscal body has the obligation to transmit, annually, by April 10^th of the current year, for the previous year, to the central fiscal body information regarding real estate owned by residents of other member states of the European Union on the territory of the respective administrative-territorial unit.

➜ Regarding the Central electronic register for payment accounts and bank accounts, managed by NAFA, the central fiscal body, at the justified request of the local fiscal body, of public authorities, public institutions or of public interest, transmits information such as:

• the persons who have the right to sign for the open accounts and any person who claims to act on behalf of the client
• for the bank or payment account: the IBAN number and the date the account was opened and closed;

➜ The local fiscal bodies are obliged to transmit, monthly, until the 15^th of the month following the one for which the declaration is made, to the central fiscal body, information on real estate and means of transport owned by natural or legal persons for which there is an obligation to declare according to the Fiscal Code.

Failure to comply with the above provisions is sanctioned with a fine from 1000 lei to 5000 lei.

➜ For the fines applied according to the Fiscal Procedure Code, the provision according to which the offender can pay half of the minimum fine within no more than 15 days from the date of handing or communication of the minutes is ABROGATED.

Effective date: November 11^th, 2023.

2. Law 70/2015 for strengthening financial discipline regarding cash collections and payments operations and for amending and supplementing the Government's Emergency Ordinance no. 193/2002 on the introduction of modern payment systems

2.1 Cash collections and payments can be carried out under the following conditions:

1. collections from legal entities, authorized natural persons, individual businesses, family businesses, freelancers, natural persons carrying out activities independently, associations and other entities with or without legal personality, within the limit of a daily ceiling of 1,000 lei from one person (the previous limit was 5,000 lei per person).
2. Collections made by cash and carry stores, which are organized and operate on the basis of the legislation in force, from legal entities, authorized natural persons, individual businesses, family businesses, freelancers, natural persons carrying out activities independently, associations and other entities with or without legal personality, within the limit of a daily ceiling of 2,000 lei per person (previous ceiling 10,000 lei)
3. payments to legal entities, authorized natural persons, individual businesses, family businesses, freelancers, natural persons carrying out activities independently, associations and other entities with or without legal personality, within the limit of a daily ceiling of 1,000 lei/person, but not more than a total ceiling of 2,000 lei/day (previous ceilings 5,000 lei/person, respectively 10,000 lei/day)
4. payments to cash and carry stores, which are organized and operate based on the legislation in force, within the limit of a total daily ceiling of 2,000 lei; (previous ceiling 10,000 lei)
5. payments from advances for settlement, within the limit of a daily ceiling of 1,000 lei, established for each person who received advances for settlement. (previous ceiling: 5,000 lei)

2.2 Fragmented cash collections from beneficiaries for invoices whose value is greater than 1,000 lei and 2,000 lei, respectively, in the case of cash and carry stores, as well as fragmenting invoices for a delivery of goods or a provision of services whose value is greater than 1,000 lei, respectively 2,000 lei are prohibited.

2.3 Fragmented payments in cash to suppliers of goods and services for invoices whose value is greater than 1,000 lei and 2,000 lei, respectively, to cash and carry stores are prohibited.

2.4 The cash collection and payment operations carried out between legal entities, authorized natural persons, individual businesses, family businesses, freelancers, natural persons carrying out activities independently, associations and other entities with or without legal personality and natural persons, representing the value of some deliveries or purchases of goods or services, dividends, assignments of claims or other rights and receipts or repayments of loans or other financing are carried out within the daily ceiling of 5,000 lei to/from a person, until the date of December 31^st, 2024 and 2,500 lei, starting from January 1^st, 2025 (the previous ceiling of 10,000 lei from one person).

2.5 Fragmented collections and payments from/to a person, for the cash collections/payments operations provided above, with a value higher than the prescribed ceiling, as well as the fragmentation of transactions representing assignments of claims or other rights, receipts or refunds of loans or other financing, dividends, respectively the fragmentation of a supply of goods or a provision of services, with a value higher than the ceiling. The provisions do not apply in the case of deliveries of goods and services performed with payment in installments, in the conditions where sales-purchase contracts with payment in installments are concluded between legal entities, PFA, II, IF and natural persons, according to the law.

2.6 Cash collection and payment operations carried out between legal entities, authorized natural persons, individual businesses, family businesses, freelancers, natural persons carrying out activities independently, associations and other entities with or without legal personality and natural persons as associates/shareholders/ administrators/natural persons/other creditors exclusively institutional creditors who carry out financial intermediation activities provided for by law representing loans regardless of their nature and destination can only be made through non-cash payment instruments.

2.7 The cash amounts in the cash register of legal entities, authorized natural persons, individual businesses, family businesses, freelancers, natural persons carrying out activities independently, associations and other entities with or without legal personality cannot exceed, at the end of each day, the ceiling of 50,000 lei. Cash amounts that exceed the ceiling are deposited into the bank accounts of these persons within two working days. As an exception, it is allowed to exceed this ceiling only with the amounts related to the payment of salaries and other personnel rights, as well as other operations with natural persons, for a period of 3 working days from the date provided for their payment.

2.8 In the case of legal entities, authorized natural persons, individual businesses, family businesses, freelancers, natural persons carrying out activities independently, associations and other entities with or without legal personality, for canceled invoices, related to returned goods and/or services that weren’t provided, with values higher than 1,000 lei, respectively 2,000 lei, in the case of cash and carry stores, the refund of the related amounts can be made as follows: 1,000 lei, respectively 2,000 lei in cash, the amounts that exceed these ceilings can be refunded only through non-cash payment instruments.

2.9 In the case of the return of goods by natural persons and, respectively, the non- provision of services to natural persons, the restitution of the related amounts can be made in cash within the limit of 5,000 lei, until December 31^st, 2024, and 2,500 lei, starting from January 1^st, 2025, and amounts that exceed this ceiling can only be refunded through non-cash payment instruments.

2.10 Cash collection and payment operations between natural persons, other than collection and payment operations carried out through institutions that provide payment services authorized by the National Bank of Romania or authorized in another member state of the European Union and notified to the National Bank of Romania, according to the law, carried out as a result of the transfer of ownership of goods or rights, the provision of services, as well as those representing the granting/repayment of loans, can be carried out within the limit of a daily ceiling of 10,000 lei/transaction, until December 31^st, 2024, and 5,000 lei/transaction starting from January 1^st, 2025. Fragmented cash collections and payments are prohibited for transactions greater than 10,000 lei until December 31^st, 2024, and 5,000 lei starting from January 1^st, 2025, such as and the fragmentation of a transaction greater than 10,000 lei until December 31^st, 2024, and 5,000 lei starting from January 1^st, 2025.

Note: 

Failure to comply with the ceilings regarding cash collections and payments, as well as the one regarding the cash register balance constitute contraventions, if they were not committed under such conditions that, according to the criminal law, they constitute crimes, and are sanctioned with a fine of 25% of the amount collected/ paid, respectively held in the cash register, which exceeds the ceiling established for each type of operation, but not less than 500 lei.

Granting any advantages to customers, for making cash payments, as well as the transfer of amounts from the account of legal persons, PFA, II, IF, NGO, to the account of natural persons, without supporting documents, is sanctioned with a fine from 15,000 lei to 20,000 lei (the previous fines were between 3,000-4,500 lei).

Effective date: November 11^th, 2023.

3. Government Emergency Ordinance no. 120/2021 regarding the administration, operation and implementation of the national system regarding the electronic invoice RO e-Factura and the electronic invoice in Romania

3.1 Electronic invoicing in the field of public procurement is applied in the case of the existence of a B2G relationship, as follows:

1. in the case of economic operators established in Romania
2. in the case where economic operators not established in Romania opt for the use of the national electronic invoice system RO e-Factura.

3.2 In the B2B commercial relationship between taxable persons established in Romania, the issuer of the electronic invoice has the obligation to transmit it to the recipient using the national electronic invoice system RO e-Factura.

The receipt and registration by the recipient - a taxable person established in Romania, of an invoice issued by economic operators established in Romania, in the B2B relationship, without complying with these provisions constitutes a contravention and is sanctioned with a fine equal to the amount of VAT entered in the invoice.

3.3 In the event that the issuer of the electronic invoice opts for its transmission in the national RO e-Factura electronic invoice system, it is obliged to be registered in the Register of operators who have opted for the use of the national RO e-Factura electronic invoice system.

3.4 The economic operator who has opted for the use of the national RO e-Factura electronic invoice system is registered in the RO e-Factura Register starting on the 1^st of the month following the exercise of the option.

3.5 Economic operators not established in Romania can opt for the use of the national RO e-Factura electronic invoice system in the B2B commercial relationship or in the B2G relationship, according to the procedure established by order of the president of the National Agency for Fiscal Administration.

3.6 The recipient of an invoice issued by economic operators established in Romania, in the B2G relationship, makes payments from its own budget only if the provisions regarding the obligation to issue electronic invoices and to transmit them through the national RO e-Factura electronic invoice system are respected. Failure to comply with these provisions constitutes a contravention, if it was not committed under such conditions as to be considered, according to the law, a crime and is punishable by a fine from 500 lei to 1,000 lei.

Effective date: July 1^st, 2024.

4. Government emergency ordinance no. 28/1999 regarding the obligation of economic operators to use electronic fiscal marking machines

The regime of contraventions for non-compliance with the provisions of this ordinance is changed, both in terms of fines and other complementary sanctions (confiscation of amounts and suspension of activity)

Effective date: November 11^th, 2024.

5. Exceptions from GO 2/2001, regarding the possibility of paying half of the minimum fine in 15 days

The offenders sanctioned for non-compliance with the provisions below can no longer benefit from the possibility of paying, within 15 days from the date of handing or communication of the minutes, half of the minimum fine provided by the normative act:

• Measures to ensure fiscal compliance;
• Measures regarding the RO E Sigiliu system;

• Measures regarding the RO e Factura system;
• Accounting Law 82/1991;
• Law no. 70/2015 for strengthening financial discipline regarding cash collections and payments operations and for amending and supplementing Government Emergency Ordinance no. 193/2002 on the introduction of modern payment systems;
• Emergency Government Ordinance no. 28/1999 regarding the obligation of economic operators to use electronic fiscal marking machines
• Law 207/2015 on the Fiscal Procedure Code;
• Law 227/2015 on the Fiscal Code;
• GEO 41/2022 regarding the RO e Transport system Effective date: November 11^th, 2023.

Important! The payment of contravention fines applied prior to the entry into force of

this law, based on the normative acts provided above, is carried out according to the legal provisions in force at the time of drawing up the finding and sanctioning act. 

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