Romania e-Factura Guide: RO e-Factura, SPV and B2C Rules 2026

Quick answer: Romania e-Factura (RO e-Factura) is ANAF's mandatory e-invoicing system. Romanian businesses must upload B2B invoices (since 2024) and B2C invoices (since 1 January 2025) as XML through the system, accessed via the SPV, within 5 working days of issue from 2026. Since 1 June 2026, Law 88/2026 has made it optional for suppliers identified only by CNP.

Romania moved from voluntary e-invoicing to one of the EU's broadest mandates in about three years, and the rules kept shifting through 2025 and 2026. This guide sets out what applies as of late 2026, with dates, fines and a worked example. For the European picture, see our overview of e-invoicing mandates coming in 2027. If you are a foreign supplier billing a Romanian client, you can build a standard invoice in our free invoice generator.

Important: This is general information, not tax or legal advice. Romanian e-invoicing law has been amended repeatedly, so confirm with a Romanian accountant.

How Romania e-Factura works

RO e-Factura is a clearance-style system. The invoice is not complete until ANAF has processed it:

1. The seller creates the invoice as XML in the CIUS-RO format, Romania's national specification of the European standard EN 16931. Our guide to the EN 16931 e-invoice format explains the underlying data model.
2. The file is uploaded to RO e-Factura, either through accounting software connected with your digital certificate or manually through the SPV.
3. ANAF validates the structure and content. If it fails, you receive an error message and must correct and re-upload.
4. If it passes, ANAF applies its electronic seal and the invoice becomes available to the buyer in their SPV or software.

Because ANAF sees every invoice, it can cross-check e-Factura data with VAT returns and SAF-T. That is the same logic used by Italy's SDI, the system Romania's model is most often compared with. For how these differ from Peppol networks, read Peppol vs clearance models.

What the XML must contain

The CIUS-RO file carries the content of a normal VAT invoice in structured fields: seller and buyer names, fiscal codes (CUI or CIF for businesses, CNP or thirteen zeros for individuals), addresses including county codes, the invoice number and date, line descriptions, quantities, unit prices, VAT category and rate, totals, and payment details. Romania applies stricter checks on some fields than the base European standard, especially addresses and VAT category codes, so generic EN 16931 output from foreign software does not always pass first time.

Common reasons ANAF rejects a file

• Wrong or inactive buyer fiscal code.
• County or city codes that do not match Romanian formats.
• VAT category codes that conflict with the rate charged.
• Totals that do not add up after rounding.
• Uploading the same invoice number twice.

A rejected file is not an issued invoice, so fix and re-upload within the deadline.

The SPV: your access point

The SPV (Spatiul Privat Virtual) is ANAF's private online area. Businesses use it to:

• Register in the RO e-Factura register where registration is required.
• Upload invoices manually or authorise software to connect.
• Download received invoices and ANAF messages, including validation errors.

Access usually requires a qualified digital certificate for companies. Most businesses never upload by hand; their invoicing software sends files automatically. Individuals who buy from businesses do not need SPV access, and ANAF has said consumers are not obliged to download their invoices.

Romania e-Factura timeline: B2G, B2B and B2C 2025

Date	Change
2022	Mandatory for public procurement (B2G) and for B2B sales of high fiscal risk goods
1 January 2024	All B2B invoices between Romanian-established taxable persons must be reported through RO e-Factura
1 July 2024	B2B invoices outside the system are no longer treated as valid; 15% invoice-value fine applies
1 January 2025	B2C invoices to individuals must be reported (Ordinance 138/2024)
1 July 2025	Fines start for not reporting B2C invoices
1 January 2026	Upload deadline becomes 5 working days (Ordinance 89/2025)
15 January 2026 (planned)	Suppliers identified by CNP brought in; postponed to 1 June 2026 by Ordinance 6/2026
1 June 2026	Law 88/2026 removes the obligation for CNP-identified suppliers; use becomes optional

How B2C reporting works

For B2C sales, the invoice goes through RO e-Factura just like a B2B one. If the buyer gives their CNP, it goes in the buyer ID field. If not, you enter thirteen zeros. Sales documented only with a fiscal receipt from a cash register are not reported, unless the customer asks for an invoice, in which case the invoice must go through the system. You still send or hand the customer their copy directly.

Some everyday examples: a plumber who invoices a homeowner for a repair must upload that invoice; a café that gives customers fiscal receipts does not upload them, unless a customer asks for an invoice; an online shop that issues an invoice with every order must upload each one. Utility and telecom companies continue to send bills to customers as before, with the e-Factura upload happening in the background.

Deadlines: the 5 working day rule

From 1 January 2026, you must upload each invoice within 5 working days of its issue date, and no later than 5 working days after the legal deadline for issuing it. Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays do not count. Invoices issued up to 31 December 2025 followed the old 5 calendar day rule even if their deadline fell in 2026.

Under Romanian VAT rules, invoices generally have to be issued by the 15th of the month after the supply, which is why the "no later than" clause matters for businesses that issue monthly invoices. In practice, if you issue an invoice on the last permitted day, you still get 5 working days to upload it, but if you backdate an invoice to an earlier issue date, the upload window is counted from that earlier date. Build a buffer into your process: many accountants recommend uploading on the day of issue, so that a rejected file can be corrected and resent well inside the deadline. Keep a clear sequence across branches with an invoice number generator, because duplicate numbers are a common rejection reason.

Worked example: deadline and fine

Elena runs a Bucharest IT services company. On Friday 14 August 2026 she issues an invoice to a Romanian client:

• Services: 10,000 lei
• VAT at the 21% standard rate: 10,000 x 0.21 = 2,100 lei
• Invoice total: 12,100 lei

Deadline: counting working days from the issue date, Monday 17, Tuesday 18, Wednesday 19, Thursday 20 and Friday 21 August. The invoice must be in RO e-Factura by Friday 21 August 2026.

Risk if she skips the system: if Elena emailed only a PDF and never uploaded the XML, the B2B invoice would not be valid, and a fine of 15% of its value could apply: 12,100 x 0.15 = 1,815 lei. Her client could face the same 15% if it booked the PDF. Separately, late upload fines for a small taxpayer range from 1,000 to 2,500 lei. To check VAT maths in reverse, see our guide on how to calculate VAT.

Who is covered after Law 88/2026

As of late 2026, the position is:

• Companies (SRL, SA) established in Romania: covered for B2B, B2G and B2C.
• PFAs, sole enterprises (II), family enterprises and liberal professions: covered, whether or not VAT registered. If you are a Romanian freelancer working through a PFA, every client invoice goes through e-Factura.
• Suppliers identified only by CNP (for example, many people with royalty or occasional independent income): no longer obliged since 1 June 2026 under Law 88/2026 as published by ANAF. They may register voluntarily or request removal.
• Farmers under the special regime: exempt.
• Non-established foreign suppliers: generally outside the system; they invoice normally and the Romanian buyer applies reverse charge where relevant.

Fines for non-compliance

Taxpayer	Fine for late or missing upload
Small taxpayers and individuals (PFA, II, IF)	1,000 to 2,500 lei
Medium taxpayers	2,500 to 5,000 lei
Large taxpayers	5,000 to 10,000 lei
B2B invoice issued outside the system	Additional 15% of invoice value (issuer, and buyer who books it)

These figures come from the rules in force through 2025 and 2026 as summarised by Romanian tax publications; check the current amounts with your accountant before relying on them.

Fines are not the only cost. A buyer whose supplier invoice is missing from RO e-Factura may be unable to deduct the input VAT on it, so business customers increasingly refuse to pay until the invoice appears in their SPV. For a small business, that payment delay can hurt cash flow more than the fine itself. The practical lesson is to treat the upload as part of issuing the invoice, not as an admin task for the end of the week, and to check the upload status before you chase a client for payment.

Correcting and storing e-Factura invoices

Once ANAF has sealed an invoice, you do not edit it. You issue a correction invoice (a storno, or credit note) through the system, then a new invoice if needed. Our credit note guide and how to correct an invoice explain the principle. Download and archive both the XML and ANAF's sealed response; our guide on how long to keep invoices covers retention more generally.

Choosing e-Factura software

For a handful of invoices a month, ANAF's own tools and the SPV can work, but most businesses use invoicing software that uploads automatically. Before choosing, check that it:

1. Generates CIUS-RO compliant XML, not just a PDF.
2. Uploads automatically and tracks the 5 working day deadline per invoice.
3. Shows ANAF validation errors in plain language.
4. Downloads incoming supplier invoices from the SPV into your books.
5. Archives the XML and ANAF's sealed response together.

Ask the provider how it handles changes in the law, because Romania amended its e-Factura rules several times in 2025 and 2026 and software that lags behind can leave you exposed to fines for invoices you thought were sent.

Romania in the wider EU picture

For most Romanian businesses, the system is now settled: every domestic B2B and B2C invoice goes through RO e-Factura, with a short upload window and validation before delivery. The open questions in late 2026 are mainly at the edges, such as individuals identified by CNP and some cross-border situations, where the law changed several times in a single year.

Romania, like Italy, uses an EU derogation to run a domestic mandate. The EU's VAT in the Digital Age package will allow national e-invoicing mandates without derogations and adds digital reporting for cross-border B2B sales from 2030; our ViDA explainer covers that. Neighbouring regimes such as Poland's KSeF are moving the same way.

Create your invoices with confidence

Romania e-Factura now covers almost every Romanian business invoice, with a 5 working day upload deadline and real fines. Use your RO e-Factura software for Romanian sales, and for foreign clients, quotes or clear PDF copies, create them in our free invoice generator with a clean invoice template.