Accountant calculating taxes. Credit line: Andrey Popov, Panther Media GmbH / Alamy / Profimedia
The draft Trenuleț Ordinance, put up for debate last night by the Ministry of Finance, removes provisions from what was intended to be a revolutionary system, namely RO e-VAT. The document refers to the RO e-TVA Compliance Notice, says in an opinion sent to HotNews Cosmin Dumitrașcu, entrepreneur, accountant & founder of ABS Group Romania
It is explicitly recognized that it was an ineffective measure, which only caused stress, nerves, time and money, he claims.
A mechanism criticized by everyone
When it was introduced, the accounting experts, together with the tax consultants, said in unison that it is an ax measure that cannot be applied, since the ANAF computer system is not set up for such a thing.
“Ro e-TVA, another madness! ANAF issues based on the incomplete data that an eTVA has and makes the taxpayer justify the differences, which most of the time come from the incomplete data sent by ANAF. In short, it makes the taxpayer work for nothing, but also the inspector to check the data sent. I mean, let's give the inspectors work so that they don't have time to run after the evaders!”, he explained Gabriel Biris.
The Ro e-TVA mechanism has also been criticized by the business community. “Entrepreneurs and managers members of the Romanian Business Leaders (RBL) organization claim that the current form of GEO 70/2024 that introduces RO e-TVA puts even more pressure on the shoulders of entrepreneurs and ask the Ministry of Finance to “urgently conduct a solid analysis” of the impact of the implementation of the provisions of the ordinance. We request Minister Marcel Boloș and representatives of the Ministry of Finance to urgently carry out a solid analysis of the impact of the implementation of the provisions of GEO 70, after consulting the private sector. We understand the need to reduce the VAT gap, but it is essential to “measure 3 times, before cutting once”, argued the RBL entrepreneurs at the time.
“The E-VAT system is a fiscal ineptitude because it is implemented from July 1, 2024 for data that the tax will have, partially, and I repeat the word “partial” only from 01.01.2025. From next year, maybe we will continue to discuss, but now it is a mockery to all persons registered for VAT purposes, whether we are discussing the staff with implications in the accounting records, or whether we are discussing the owners of the respective activities who will pay more”, said in a discussion with HotNews and fiscal consultant Adrian Bența
ANAF admits that it cannot inventory the extraordinarily large volume in order to analyze all the collected data in a decent time
So far, the sanctions related to the Ro e-TVA system have been postponed twice
According to Cosmin Dumitrașcu, we have the following certain things following this draft law:
- Eliminating the obligation to respond to the RO e-TVA Compliance Notice together with the repeal of related contraventional sanctions;
- The lack of response to the previously mentioned Notice is no longer considered an indicator of fiscal risk;
- Elimination of the automatic risk of improper VAT refund based solely on this non-compliance with RO e-TVA.
Moreover, he adds, a good conclusion was reached regarding e-TVA, and this “revolutionary mechanism” is to be suspended. Only the computer system remains active, says Dumitrașcu.
This mechanism created a lot of inconvenience for entrepreneurs and accountants, as enormous time resources were consumed in the first place to respond to an experimental system.
Those set out in the Draft GEO regarding the repeal of several paragraphs represent a tacit acknowledgment that the RO e-VAT mechanism was not ready for introduction at the national level.
The digitization process of ANAF is still a “must do”, but it must be carried out step by step and not fire-fighting, senselessly and on the knees as it happened otherwise, concludes the founder of ABS Group Romania
