Romania is introducing a mandatory e-transport system from 1 July 2022 to monitor the transport of certain goods in the national territory, an initiative that will operate in parallel with the newly launched continuous transaction controls (CTCs) system for e-invoicing. This means that in a little over a month’s time, the issuance of an e-transport document will be mandatory for transportation of certain goods within Romania. In this blog, you will find answers to frequently asked questions related to this new system.
What transport is included in the scope?
The Romanian e-transport system monitors the transport of goods on the national territory categorised as high risk from a fiscal perspective.
This includes the following:
- Intra-community acquisitions
- Intra-community deliveries
- Imports and exports
- Domestic transportation between different economic operators
- Domestic transportation between two locations belonging to the same economic operator
- Transport of goods that are subject to intra-community transactions in transit through Romania
In addition to the transportation type, the categories of road vehicles in scope were recently published in a draft order by the National Agency for Fiscal Administration (ANAF) as follows:
- a. Have a maximum authorised mass (MAM) of at least 3.5 tons, and
- b. Loaded with high fiscal risk goods with a total gross mass of a minimum of 500 kg or a total value of more than 10,000 Leu (appx. €2,000)
The transportation of high fiscal risk goods will not be declared in Romania’s e-transport system if the transportation doesn’t fall within the scope described above.
What are the high fiscal risk products that must be declared in Romania’s e-transport system?
ANAF had already established a list of high fiscal risk products and used the same criteria to determine the scope of the e-invoicing system (E-Factura). Although that list partially overlaps with the list for the e-transport system, there are differences.
The product categories of high fiscal risk products for the e-transport system are as follows:
- Vegetables, plants, roots and tubers, foodstuffs
- Edible fruits; peel of citrus fruits or melons
- Beverages, spirits, and vinegar
- Salt; sulfur; earths and stones; plaster, lime, and cement
- Knitted or crocheted garments and clothing accessories
- Clothing and clothing accessories, other than knitted or crocheted
- Footwear, gaiters
- Cast iron, iron, and steel
If the transportation includes both goods with high fiscal risk and other goods that aren’t in the category of high fiscal risk, the whole transportation must be declared in the Romanian e-transport system.
How does the e-transport system work?
It will be operational through the Virtual Private Space (SPV), which is the tax authority portal used for tax purposes, including the Romanian e-invoicing system. The system can either be used through API or through a free application provided by the Ministry of Finance.
According to the regulation, taxpayers will declare the transportation by transmitting an XML file in the e-transport system a maximum of three calendar days before the start of the transport, in advance of the movement of goods from one location to another. Following the transmission, the system will perform some checks (structure, syntax, and semantics), and the Ministry of Finance will apply its signature confirming receipt of the declaration.
The system will generate a unique code (ITU code) if the XML file complies with the requirements and make it available to the taxpayer in a zip archive file with the signature of the Ministry of Finance. This code must accompany the goods in physical or electronic format with the transport document to enable the competent authorities to verify the declaration and the goods while enroute.
The ITU code is valid for five calendar days, starting with the date declared when the transport begins. It’s prohibited to use the ITU code once it has expired.
What information needs to be sent to the e-transport system?
The declaration will include the following:
- Data relating to the consignor and the beneficiary
- The name, characteristics, quantities, and value of the goods transported
- Places of loading and unloading
- Details of the means of transport and the carrier
What are the fines?
Noncompliance with the rules relating to the e-transport system will result in a fine reaching Leu 50,000 (approx. €10,000) for individuals and Leu 100,000 (approx. €20,000) for legal persons. In addition, the value of undeclared goods will be confiscated.
What happens next?
Most of the regulations have been finalised although the approval process of the recently published draft order, technical documentation, APIs, and the e-transport system website are not yet available to taxpayers. As the system is currently due to become mandatory on 1 July 2022, businesses in Romania need to either prepare for last-minute implementation once the outstanding documentation is published or expect a postponement.
Take Action
Need help with evolving VAT compliance requirements in Romania? Get in touch with our tax experts.
