Government Emergency Ordinance no. 138/2024 for the amendment and completion of certain normative acts in the fiscal-budgetary field, as well as for the regulation of other measures, was published in the Official Gazette no. 1222 of December 5, 2024.

The areas covered by the tax measures refer to the following:

- RO e-Invoice System

- RO e-VAT System

- RO e-Transport System

- Corporate income tax

- Additional tax

- Income tax

- VAT

1. Fiscal measures regarding the RO e-Invoice system

• In the B2G commercial relationship, invoices issued for public procurement, works or service concessions, including those in the defense and security sector, will contain the corresponding CPV codes from the reference nomenclature for public procurement.

• Some clarifications are introduced regarding the invoices issued on the B2B relationship, more exactly that only invoices to taxable persons established in Romania for goods and services for which the place is in Romania will be transmitted through the RO e-Invoice system.

• The obligation to use the RO e-Invoice system is eliminated in the case of intra-community deliveries to beneficiaries in Romania who use a VAT code from another member state.

• Starting with January 1, 2025, the use of the RO e-Invoice system is extended for the supplies of goods and services with the place of delivery/performance in Romania carried out in the B2C relationship. It is specified that, for documents issued to individuals who are not identified by a fiscal identification code (i.e. personal identification number), a code consisting of 13 zero digits will be used.

• For both the B2B and B2C commercial relationships, simplified invoices are also subject to declaration in the RO e-Invoice system, except for tax receipts issued through electronic fiscal cash registers (AMEF) and which meet the conditions of a simplified invoice.

• Starting with January 1, 2025, the provisions regarding the use of the RO e-Invoice system for the invoices issued for holiday vouchers to their holders, from the Government Emergency Ordinance no. 8/2009, are repealed, given that all invoices issued in the B2C relationship will be reported in the system from January 1, 2025.

The amendments to the legal provisions regarding RO e-Invoice enter into force from January 1, 2025.

2. Fiscal measures regarding the RO e-VAT system

• The obligation of taxpayers to submit the results of the verifications on the differences communicated through the "Notification of RO e-VAT compliance" is postponed until July 1, 2025.

• It establishes the obligation to issue self-invoices for the collection of VAT related to purchases made for the purpose of making investments within public/social programs financed from public funds and which were subsequently handed over free of charge to the beneficiaries on the basis of a protocol, if the VAT for these purchases was initially deducted.

3. Fiscal measures regarding the RO e-Transport system

The application of sanctions for non-entry into force for authorized economic operators (AEOs) is postponed until 31 March 2025. Economic operators continue to have this obligation.

4. Fiscal measures introduced in the Fiscal Code

Corporate income tax – limitation of the deductibility of interest and costs equivalent to interest

• The ordinance amends Article 40^2 regarding the rules for limiting the deductibility of interest and interest-equivalent costs. The amendments concern the introductory part and letter b) of paragraph (7^1), which refer to the deductible ceilings for excess costs of deferred indebtedness, namely:

- The introductory part establishes that the total excess costs of deferred indebtedness may be allocated to transactions and operations with affiliated persons that finance the acquisition or production of fixed assets in progress or of assets established in accordance with the provisions of the IMCA and ICAS.

- Letter b) introduces the need to determine the share of the non-deducted excess cost related to transactions with affiliated persons that finance the acquisition and production of tangible fixed assets, in accordance with the provisions of the IMCA and ICAS, in relation to the total excess costs of the non-deducted indebtedness before applying the 30% limit.

Additional tax

• Taxpayers who are subject to the additional tax for credit institutions and the additional tax for legal entities carrying out activities in the oil and natural gas sectors are exempt from the application of the IMCA, during the period of application of these provisions.

• For the tax group, the additional tax for credit institutions and the additional tax for legal entities carrying out activities in the oil and natural gas sectors will be applied accordingly by the members, depending on their individual situation.

• Starting with the fiscal year 2025 (or the amended year starting in 2025), the references in Article 40^2 to ICAS will be replaced by references to the article on the additional tax for the oil and gas sector.

Income tax

• Clarifications are made regarding the method of determining the annual net income, calculating, declaring and paying the income tax from the transfer of the use of assets from the personal patrimony, in the context in which starting with January 1, 2024, the declaration and transfer of income tax is the responsibility of income payers, legal entities or other entities that have the obligation to keep accounting records. At the request of the income beneficiary, the payer has the obligation to issue a document certifying the amount of income tax withheld and paid.

• The obligation to calculate and pay the income tax for the amounts representing the guarantee used for the payment of rent is introduced. This provision will enter into force from the date of publication of this ordinance and concerns rental contracts concluded after December 5, 2024. The method of declaring and paying the tax is through the Single Declaration in the case of individuals, and legal entities or other entities that have the obligation to keep an accounting record will do so through the 205 declaration. The same provisions apply in the situation where the gross income is paid exclusively in kind.

• For situations where the rent is paid exclusively in kind, the value of the taxable income is established by deducting the flat rate of 20% on the gross income achieved.

• Pension income obtained from abroad will be taxable at a rate of 10%, after deducting from income the non-taxable amount of RON 3,000, starting with the date of entry into force of this ordinance.

• Included in the category of income from other sources are the income obtained from the subsequent transfer of de facto possession, registered in the land register according to articles 13 and 41 of the Law on Cadastre and Real Estate Publicity no. 7/1996, by legal acts between the living. For these types of income, the taxpayer has the obligation to determine and declare the income tax through the Single Declaration, as well as to pay the tax to the State Budget.

Value added tax

• The VAT registration code or the tax identification code of the legal entity beneficiary has been introduced as a mandatory element of the simplified invoice.This provision enters into force as of January 1, 2025.

• The obligation to adjust the VAT resulting from the correction of the tax base by the beneficiaries who do not receive correction invoices for the transactions subject to the simplification measures of art. 331 of the Fiscal Code is extended, at the latest until the 15th day of the month following the one in which the events provided for in art. 287 letters a)-c) and e) of the Fiscal Code occurred (i.e. the termination of the contract before its fulfillment, but within which advance invoices were issued, the partial or total refusal of the goods/services or the termination of the contract after the operations have been carried out, the granting of price reductions after the completion of the operation, the return of the packaging in which the goods were shipped, for the packaging circulating through invoicing).

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