my Business in Romania
🤔 deductible expense or not?
5 important rules, with examples
An expense is tax deductible only if it is in relation with the business activity, is properly documented - and is recorded within the deadline. The full set of documents which I need to present my accountant include, from case to case, bank statements, invoices, service reception notes (=ro. proces-verbal), as well as cash receipts, fuel receipts and additional travel documents. Let’s look at it in detail.
First: bank statements
I need to present them to my accountant for each of my business accounts
and in chronological order
Depending on the level of IT integration with my accountant, I can send the bank statements to her printed, or by email, or, there are cases where the accounting software can be linked to my business bank accounts in real time, making it much easier for processing
Second: the invoices I issue
Again, this depends on the level of technological integration between the software which I use for invoicing - and the accounting software used by my accountant. Either I print them - or email them, or, ideally, the two pieces of software are communicating to each other via an API
If they’re not yet integrated, then I must present the actual invoices to my accountant, either in hardcopy or softcopy, in chronological order
including the credit notes (i.e. the cancelled invoices)
my accountant declares all invoices in Tax Statement 394
the invoices I issue having as object services need to be accompanied by service reception notes
for unrecorded revenue, i.e. the services I rendered but not yet invoiced, I need to offer my accountant supporting documents, such as service reception notes
the service reception note is a document related to the collecting of the VAT - and it is very important for the companies which are VAT payers
Example:
I offer IT services and the services have been received on 20 August, I issue the invoice on the 6th of September.
VAT is due in August, not in September
Third: invoices received by my business in Romania
must be accompanied by the service reception notes for the reception of services and by the contract
a special case are protocol expenses. I must provide supporting documents to justify these expenses: not only the receipt, which must include my company’s tax ID, but also documentation before and after the meeting, justifying its connection to my business. To be deductible, all protocol expenses must be directly related to the company’s core business. All restaurant costs which need to be deducted must be accompanied by an internal note beforehand, and by a report afterwards: participants & scope of the meeting
Fourth: cash receipts issued/received by my Business in Romania
no more than RON 5 000 can be paid/received in cash for an invoice
Example:
I issue an invoice of RON 10 000, I receive RON 5 000 in cash on 31 August and RON 5 000 on the 1st of September.
This is wrong and I will get fined
the maximum daily total value of cash payments is RON 10 000. Within this ceiling fall also travel expense accounts
if I do not present travel documents, only 50% of the VAT for the fuel receipts is deductible
Fifth: Support documents for work-related travel costs
If I intend to deduct travel costs with fuel, then I need to have travel documents (=ro. “foi de parcurs”). If I can’t present travel documents, then I’m only entitled to deduct half of the VAT. If my firm is a profit-tax payer, then the expense with fuel itself will only be deductible 50%. The travel documents need to display following information:
category of vehicle
reason
destination
number of kilometers
the company standard fuel consumption per kilometer
fuel receipts:
must include the tax code - with the prefix RO, if my business is VAT-payer
must include the car licence plate number
the total volume of fuel purchased in a month must correspond to the total volume of fuel listed in the travel documents. The quantity of fuel used is calculated in the following way:
nr. of kilometers * the company standard fuel consumption per kilometer must equal the quantity from the fuel receipts handed over to my accountant
If my travel is abroad then I am entitled to per diem and accommodation allowance. I can always call the Group Expert Consulting team to find out the specific values for each country. I may reach the team with a text message to the mobile number +4073 TAX NEWS, that is +40 738 296 397, as well as on Apple Podcasts and Google Podcasts, where I can also stay tuned for more episodes helping me start and grow my Business in Romania