Main legislative changes of October 2023

1. The chart of accounts will have new accounts and some changes to existing account
2. Gambling entities will be subject to tougher taxation and will be required to operate through a permanent establishment in Romania
3. The Romanian Government establishes amendments to the contraventions
4. The Romanian Government approves a series of documents that may be requested in order to verify the obligation of economic operators to use electronic fiscal cash registers
5. The value of cultural vouchers is increased from 1 October 2023

1. The chart of accounts will have new accounts and some changes to existing accounts       

The following accounts will be added to the chart of accounts:

• 1496 - losses from company reorganisations, corresponding to the negative net assets of the company being absorbed (A)
• 6121 - royalty expenses;
• 6122 - management lease expenses;
• 6123 - rental expenses;
• 616 - expenditure on intellectual property rights
• 617 - management expenses
• 618 - consultancy costs

Changes are made to the functionality of existing accounts:

• an addition to the function of account 691 (income tax expense) - it is clarified that for income tax groups - the responsible legal entity debits account 691 with the total income tax expense due from the tax group;
• account 266 - deferred green certificates is deleted.

These changes were published in the Official Gazette No 903 of 6 October by MFP Order 2.649/2023.

2. Gambling entities will be subject to tougher taxation and will be required to operate through a permanent establishment in Romania.

The right to organize and operate gambling activity may be granted to legal entities legally established in a Member State of the European Union or in countries that are signatories to the Agreement on the European Economic Area or in the Swiss Confederation, if they have registered a permanent establishment in Romania at the level of which the income from the organization and operation of gambling activity is fully recognized. Within 6 months, economic operators must prove that they operate through a company registered in Romania or through a permanent establishment in order not to lose their licence.

At the same time, the possibility of joint operation of games of chance is limited to certain categories of operators and the conditions under which advertising and publicity for games of chance and commercial activities involving the sale of alcoholic beverages may be carried out are tightened. 

Other amendments concern the creation of a public register of operators licensed/authorised to carry out gambling activities, the modification of certain deadlines for the payment of the annual fee related to the authorisation to operate games of chance and the introduction of bonuses for the advance payment of the fee. The annual contributions payable by licensed gambling operators are also amended.

These amendments were published in the Official Gazette No. 905 of 6 October by Emergency Ordinance no. 82

3. The Romanian Government establishes amendments to the contraventions

The contraventions consisting of failure to comply with certain obligations relating to the use of electronic fiscal cash registers, certain contraventions established by Law no. 207/2015 on the Fiscal Procedure Code, Government Emergency Ordinance no. 193/2002 on the introduction of modern payment systems and for failure to comply with certain obligations in the field of local taxes and duties are removed from the scope of the Prevention Law no. 270/2017.

The amount of fines for non-compliance with obligations for customs controls and for excise duties and other special taxes is also updated.

These changes are set out in Official Gazette No 904 of 6 October 2023, in Decision No 937/2023.

4. The Romanian Government approves a series of documents that may be requested in order to verify the obligation of economic operators to use electronic fiscal cash registers

A number of supporting documents can be requested by the tax authorities to verify whether the obligation to use the electronic cash register has been fulfilled. This order mainly concerns transport or rental activities for tourism purposes. The tax authorities may check the leasing or rental contracts for premises or vehicles.

The amendments are contained in the Official Gazette No 919 of 12 October, in Order 1.612.

5. The value of cultural vouchers increases from 1 October 2023

Cultural vouchers for employees will increase from a maximum of 200 lei per month and a maximum of 400 lei per event to 210 lei/month and 420 lei/event respectively. According to the order, these values will be valid for the second semester of the current year, starting in October 2023 (since the previous values were valid until September), as well as for the first two months of 2024.

The new value was established in the Official Gazette No 899 of 5 October 2023, by Order MFP 2.540/3.452

Disclaimer

The information contained in this newsletter is intended to give you an overview of new legislation; the newsletter does not contain a comprehensive analysis of each topic. For further information on the topics covered please contact us. No responsibility is accepted for decisions or omissions following the use of the content of this newsletter. 

Crowe România