Romania
Provinces
Goods
Provinces
Goods
Digital Services
About
Goods
About
Goods
About
Digital Services
About
Digital Services
Goods
Digital Services
Goods
Digital Services
VAT Standard Rate
All goods are subject to Romania’s regular VAT rate of 19%.VAT Reduced Rates
Romania has implemented two Reduced Value-Added Tax Rates:- 9% reduced rate for products as varied as prosthesis, pharmaceuticals, some foodstuffs, and irrigation water.
- 5% reduced rate on certain items, like books and heating commodities like firewood.
This guide covers only the taxation of digital services. If you sell goods, this guide does not apply.
Changes to the EU VAT rules referring to the place of supply of telecommunications, broadcasting, and electronic services will enter into force on the 1st of January, 2015. Starting with this date, these services supplied by a business to a final consumer (B2C) will be taxable in the country where the customer is established or has his permanent address or usual residence (hereinafter “Member State of consumption”) regardless of where the taxable person supplying these services is established (Article 58 of the VAT Directive 2008/8/EC of 12 February 2008 amending the Council Directive 2006/112/EC of 28 November 2006 on the common system of value added tax).
VAT Standard rate
The standard VAT rate in Romania in 2024 is 19%.VAT Reduced rate
9% The reduced rate of Value-Added Tax (VAT) applies only to certain goods and services, including:- Food and non-alcoholic beverages intended for human and animal consumption;
- Supplies of medicines for human and veterinarian use;
- Restaurant services;
- Catering services;
- Hotel accommodation activities.
- Manuals, books, newspapers, and magazines;
- Firewood supplies;
- Admission to castles, museums, and zoos.
VAT Standard rate
19%
VAT Reduced rate
9%, 5%
Thresholds
EUR 88,500
Thresholds
Established Businesses. Businesses with a national presence are required to register for value-added tax if the annual revenue is more than EUR 88,500 (about RON 300,000). Non-Established Businesses. Regardless of turnover, non-resident businesses must register for VAT.VAT Recovery
Businesses in Romania have the option to deduct VAT paid on business-related goods from sales VAT in order to recoup some of VAT expenses. A minimum of 5,000 Romanian leva (RON) is refundable, and there are strict requirements for which receipts and costs can be claimed as VAT.Registration Procedure
When registering for VAT in Romania, businesses must follow certain processes based on the status. Either the taxpayer or the authorised representative must submit the registration forms, which must be filled out.Tax representative
Appointing an authorised person to manage VAT registration and declarations in Romania is mandatory for non-EU nations.Keeping records
Documentation Accurate and complete records of value-added tax (VAT), including financial records and VAT statements, must be kept and made available to tax authorities either domestically or abroad. For most items, records need to be kept for 10 years, but for capital goods, it can be extended to 20 years.VAT Payment Dates
Monthly payments are due on the 25th, the same day as returns are due.Filing VAT Returns
The submission of VAT returns must be done electronically. Companies reporting yearly sales of less than EUR 100,000 are required to submit the reports every three months; on the other hand, the reporting for intra-community acquisitions is necessary to submit the returns every month by the 25th.Threshold
From the 1st of July 2021, the distance selling thresholds were withdrawn and replaced by a unified threshold of EUR 10,000 for all EU members. In other words, VAT should be charged at the VAT rate of the customer’s country of residence by companies whose annual taxable cross-border turnover is over EUR 10,000.Pieces of evidence
To identify the customer’s location, the merchant has to collect at least two items on non-contradictory evidence. And if two of them are in Romania, the customer may be determined as Romanian:- Customer’s permanent address;
- Billing address (bank or electronic payment operator);
- IP address;
- Telephone number;
- The location of the customer’s fixed landline through which the service is supplied to him;
- Other commercially relevant information.
E-services list
As defined by EU law, a digital product is any product that’s stored, delivered, and used in an electronic format. These are goods or services that the customer receives via email, by downloading them from the Internet, or through logging into a website, in particular:- E-books, images, movies, and videos, whether buying a copy from Shopify or using a service like Netflix. In tax language, these products are in a category usually called, «Audio, visual, or audio-visual products»;
- Downloadable and streaming music, whether buying an MP3 or using a service like SoundCloud or Spotify. Of course, these products also fall into the audio category;
- Cloud-based software and as-a-Service products, such as Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS), and Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS);
- Websites, site hosting services, and internet service providers;
- Online ads and affiliate marketing.
Registration procedure
If a company not established in Romania is providing ‘taxable supplies’ digital services in Romania, it may have to obtain a non-resident VAT registration with AT–Agenţia Naţională de Administrare Fiscală. A business established in a country outside the EU must appoint a tax representative to register for VAT in Romania. The MOSS is also available. The Mini One Stop Shop (MOSS) is a special scheme that aims to facilitate the compliance of all obligations relating to telecommunications services, broadcasting, and television and electronically supplied services to non-taxable persons in the EU in which they do not have an establishment to account for the VAT. If the supplier is established outside the European Union and does not have a fixed establishment in Romania (nor in any Member State), and is not registered nor is legally required to register for VAT purposes in any Member State, it may choose Romania as the Member State of Identification for MOSS purposes.VAT returns filing date
VAT returns filing is up to the 20th of the month following the quarter to which the services were provided. For instance:- 20 April, for Q1 ending 31 March;
- 20 July, for Q2 ending 30 June;
- 20 October, for Q3 ending 30 September;
- 20 January, for Q4 ending 31 December.
VAT payment date
The same date as for filling (see above).Penalties
A non-declaration penalty is applicable, at 0.08% per day, starting from the day following the due date until the date of payment. This penalty applies to the main tax obligations declared incorrectly or not declared by the taxpayer and is established by a tax inspection authority decision.Keeping records
All records and supporting documents should be kept for 10 years.E-Invoicing in Romania
According to a law published in October 2023, Romania introduced mandatory e-reporting and e-invoicing as of January 1, 2024.- In the first phase (until June 30, 2024), Romanian taxpayers must comply with the e-reporting obligation.
- Starting from the second phase (from July 1, 2024), electronic B2B and B2G invoicing is mandatory for Romanian taxpayers as well as foreign companies with a permanent or fixed establishment in Romania. Taxpayers who are not registered as VAT payers will not be subject to this requirement; instead, they will have to continue to submit invoices issued through e-invoicing.
Subscribe to the newsletter
No spam, only interesting news