Absence of electronic cash registers falls under the Prevention Law, to be sanctioned with a warning

The Government is bringing all contraventions provided for by the legislation on fiscal electronic cash registers under the Prevention Law, so that failure to meet the equipment deadline (1 September for large and medium-sized taxpayers and 1 November for small taxpayers), for reasons that are practically not attributable to taxpayers, cannot be sanctioned with fines, but only with a warning and the imposition of a remediation plan.

If the factual situation allows it (the device has not yet been fiscalised and installed, has been ordered or can be purchased on the market), the remediation plan imposed by the control authorities will have a short deadline. On the other hand, where there are no cash registers with an electronic journal on the market that are dedicated to the activity of the inspected taxpayer, the remediation plan will have a maximum deadline of 90 days.

Legal framework

Government Decision no. 701/2018 was published in the Official Gazette no. 777 of 10 September 2018. It brings under the provisions of the Prevention Law no. 270/2017 the failure by traders to meet the deadline for equipping themselves with cash registers with an electronic journal under Government Emergency Ordinance no. 28/1999 (OUG no. 28/1999), with a view to ensuring a preventive and incentivising approach rather than immediate sanctioning of the economic operator for a first offence.

According to the Decision, the control authorities will analyse the situation of each taxpayer individually. If the taxpayer has not equipped themselves with cash registers with an electronic journal, the authorities will issue a warning and set an equipment deadline of up to 90 days, depending on their findings.

Furthermore, under the Prevention Law, within a maximum of 10 working days from the expiry of the equipment deadline set by the remediation plan, the public authority or institution with control responsibilities is required to resume the inspection. If it finds that the legal obligations have not been fulfilled within the time allowed, the sanctions provided for by OUG no. 28/1999 apply.

Likewise, the press release issued by the Ministry of Finance on this matter draws attention to the need for all entities involved in this process to step up their efforts to complete the technical approval, fiscalisation, installation and commissioning of the new fiscal electronic cash registers. It also states that this legislative measure is the last support the Ministry of Finance can provide during the implementation period.