e-Factura ANAF — pure RO_CIUS clearance

e-Factura is Romania's national e-invoicing platform, operated by ANAF (Agenția Națională de Administrare Fiscală). Pure clearance, systematic State signature, RO_CIUS UBL 2.1 format aligned with EN 16931 — one of the strictest CTC implementations in the European Union.

What is e-Factura?

e-Factura is the Sistemul național privind factura electronică RO e-Factura — Romanian national e-invoicing system implemented by ANAF from 6 November 2021. It is an Italian-style clearance platform: every B2B invoice issued by a Romanian VAT taxpayer must transit through the e-Factura API, be validated by the State, then digitally signed by ANAF before it has any legal force.

Unlike a 4-corner (PEPPOL) or 5-corner (French Y) model, Romania chose an architecture where the State is an obligatory party to the transaction: no direct issuer-to-recipient transmission has fiscal value, transit through e-Factura is constitutive. Printed PDFs or historical EDIFACT INVOIC messages no longer have legal invoice value for domestic B2B flows.

Pure clearance architecture

The flow is unified and has no variants. Every B2B invoice follows the four steps below:

1. API submission. The issuer (or their ERP / supplier portal) submits the RO_CIUS invoice to the e-Factura entry point via SPV (Spațiul Privat Virtual). Authentication uses an eIDAS qualified certificate bound to an SPV account.
2. e-Factura validation. Syntactic checks (UBL 2.1 XSD), semantic (EN 16931 + RO_CIUS Schematron), business (issuer CUI/CIF consistency, VAT code, reverse charge requirements). Target latency < 10 seconds.
3. ANAF digital signature. Once validated, the invoice is signed with the ANAF certificate (XAdES-T enveloped). This fingerprint is what gives the invoice legal value. The ID factura is then assigned.
4. Made available to recipient. The signed invoice is placed in the recipient's SPV space. Pull model: the recipient retrieves it via API client or web portal. SPV retention: 60 days, then encrypted archival.

┌────────────┐    POST /upload    ┌────────────────────┐
│  ERP / FK  │ ─────────────────> │  e-Factura ANAF    │
└────────────┘                    │  (SPV gateway)     │
                                  └────────────────────┘
                                            │
                                            ▼
                              ┌──────────────────────────────┐
                              │  RO_CIUS / XSD validation    │
                              │  EN 16931 + RO codelists     │
                              └──────────────────────────────┘
                                            │
                                            ▼
                              ┌──────────────────────────────┐
                              │  ANAF digital signature      │
                              │  ID factura assigned         │
                              └──────────────────────────────┘
                                            │
                                            ▼
                              ┌──────────────────────────────┐
                              │  Made available to recipient │
                              │  via SPV (pull model)        │
                              └──────────────────────────────┘

Who is affected?

• All Romanian VAT taxpayers (plătitor de TVA), identified by their Cod de Identificare Fiscală (CIF) or Cod Unic de Înregistrare (CUI), established on Romanian territory.
• Foreign companies with a permanent establishment in Romania. If the entity operates from a sediu permanent, it is subject to e-Factura for local B2B flows.
• B2G mandatory since 1 July 2022. All invoices issued to a public institution (autoritate contractantă) must transit through e-Factura, including micro-businesses.
• B2B intra-community and high-fraud sectors since 1 July 2024. Wave 1: fuels, clothing/footwear, fruits and vegetables, alcohol, mineral water, construction.
• B2B universal since 1 January 2025. All domestic B2B operations between Romanian VAT taxpayers. No more sectoral exemptions.
• B2C — out of scope in 2026. B2C sales remain managed via case de marcat electronice fiscale (electronic fiscal cash registers) integrated into a separate ANAF flow (e-Sigilii and e-Casa).

Legal basis — OUG 120/2021 and Legea 296/2023

The legal foundation of e-Factura is articulated around four main texts:

All texts are published in the Monitorul Oficial al României, part I, and accessible via legislatie.just.ro.

ANAF signature — legal proof

The major specificity of the Romanian model is that ANAF itself signs the invoice after validation. Concretely:

• Issuer signs first: the taxpayer signs the UBL XML with their eIDAS qualified certificate (XAdES-BES enveloped).
• ANAF counter-signs: after validation, ANAF applies its own XAdES-T signature (with timestamp). This dual signature constitutes the fiscal proof.
• Accounting consequence: the fiscal issuance date is the ANAF signing date, not the ERP issuance date. This imposes adjustments to monthly cut-offs and VAT imputation rules.
• Storage: ANAF retains a copy for 10 years (Romanian fiscal statute of limitations). The taxpayer must also retain the signed XML.

Penalties

The penalty regime is defined by art. 13¹ of OUG 120/2021 (amended by OUG 87/2024):

• Non-issuance via e-Factura: fines from 5,000 to 10,000 RON for large taxpayers (~€1,000 to €2,000), from 2,500 to 5,000 RON for medium taxpayers, and 1,000 to 2,500 RON for small ones.
• Receiving and using a B2B invoice not issued via e-Factura: penalty equivalent to 15% of the invoice value for the buyer.
• Tolerance period. From 1 July 2024 to 31 December 2024, penalties suspended for wave 1. From 1 January 2025 to 31 March 2025, grace period for wave 2 (warnings only).
• Cumulation: e-Factura penalties cumulate with those under the Codul Fiscal for undeclared or under-declared VAT, and taxa pe valoarea adăugată.

Common pitfalls

• Confusing e-Factura and e-Transport. e-Factura is the invoice flow (RO_CIUS UBL). e-Transport is the transport document (UIT — Unique Internal Transport) for high-value goods crossing Romanian borders. See dedicated page.
• Believing B2C is in scope. In 2026, B2C remains managed by case de marcat electronice fiscale (daily Z report to ANAF via e-Sigilii). e-Factura is strictly B2B and B2G.
• Fiscal issuance date ≠ ERP issuance date. Issuer ERPs must wait for the ID factura and ANAF timestamp before recording the invoice as issued. Otherwise, VAT period mismatches.
• Underestimating dual signature. The signed XML received after validation contains two signatures (issuer + ANAF). Validation chains must accept the XAdES-T format with ANAF timestamp, not only XAdES-BES.
• Forgetting D406 SAF-T in parallel. e-Factura does not replace the monthly D406 informative declaration. Both coexist and are cross-validated by ANAF.

Cross-links

• Romania hub — full e-Factura ANAF
• SPV — Spațiul Privat Virtual
• Rollout calendar 2022-2025
• RO_CIUS — UBL 2.1 customization
• Romanian VAT regimes
• D406 — Romanian SAF-T
• e-Transport — companion document
• ANAF — official e-Factura portal
• ANAF — technical e-Factura API specifications
• OUG 120/2021 — official text