Romania - Introduction of National e-Transport System

An Emergency Ordinance has been issued in Romania establishing a “National System for the monitoring of road transports of goods with high fiscal risk on the national territory” (RO e-transport). The use of the e-transport system is optional with effect April 1, 2022 but will become mandatory from July 1, 2022. RO e-transport will monitor the transport of high-risk goods:

• Relating to intra-Community acquisitions
• Relating to intra-Community deliveries
• Relating to imports
• Relating to exports
• Between two locations within Romania
• Relating to intra-Community transactions where the goods are in transit in Romania. 

Romania recently named categories of high-risk goods that will be subject to the new reporting, including:

1. Fruit and Vegetables
   
2. Alcoholic beverages
   
3. Mineral products (mineral water, sand, and gravel)
   
4. Clothing and footwear. 
   

The responsible relevant legal entity that will be responsible for reporting the transport of high fiscal risk goods via RO e-transport will be:

• The consignee indicated in the customs import declaration
• The exporter indicated in the customs export declaration
• The recipient in Romania in the case of intra-Community acquisitions

• The supplier in Romania in the case of domestic transactions or intra-Community deliveries. 

The relevant party will declare various data through the RO e-Transport system including:

• The sender and the beneficiary of the goods
  
• The characteristics and the value of the transported goods
  
• The place of loading and unloading, as well as information on the mode of transport. 
  

The e-Transport system will generate an UIT code which uniquely identifies the goods. The UIT code can be requested up to three calendar days before the start of the identified transport date and is valid for five calendar days from that identified transport date notified on the system. The UIT code must be clearly legible on the transport document.

This RO e-Transport system is the latest effort by the Romanian tax authorities to reduce the VAT Gap which is currently the largest in the EU at 34.9%. Romania has also recently launched its "E-factura – mandatory electronic invoicing system" (RO e-Factura). While initially its use for B2B is voluntary, emergency legislation has just been approved to mandate its use for B2B sales of high-risk products. From July 1, 2022, Romanian suppliers of high-risk goods will need to issue e-invoices via RO e-Factura to their business customers. In addition, Romania has also mandated the preparation and submission of a broad tax and accounting SAF-T (Standard Audit File for Tax) which initially needs to be submitted by a group of named large taxpayers.

Get in touch now and speak to one of our VAT experts to see how Avalara can assist with VAT compliance in Romania or to discuss your e-invoicing and digital reporting strategy.