You invoiced in March, the client pays in June, and you had already paid the VAT to the state in April, out of money you did not yet have. The cash accounting scheme exists for exactly this situation. It has another side that few consider before opting in: it defers input deduction in the same way, both for you and for your clients.
Under the cash accounting scheme, governed by Article 282(3) and the following articles of the Tax Code, VAT becomes chargeable on the date payment is received for the goods or services supplied, not on the invoice date. Taxable persons registered for VAT purposes, with their business established in Romania, whose turnover does not exceed the statutory threshold in either the preceding year or the current year as at the date of the option, may opt in.
The threshold was raised in 2026: 4,500,000 lei until 28 February, 5,000,000 lei from 1 March. The scheme is optional, entered by notification, and exited either compulsorily, once the threshold is exceeded, or by choice, at any time after the first year. Members of a single fiscal group and persons not established in Romania may not apply the scheme.
The appeal of the scheme fits in a single sentence: you no longer pay VAT to the state on invoices you have not been paid. Its cost fits in the next sentence, which is read less often.
On the output side, output tax becomes chargeable on payment, in full or in proportion to the part-payments received. Advances received trigger chargeability for the sums received. There is no longer a date on which the tax becomes chargeable in the absence of payment; until payment is made, the tax is not due.
On the input side, the right to deduct the tax on purchases is deferred until the date of payment to the supplier. A company that buys heavily and pays late defers its own deduction by exactly as many days. For a project involving large investments, the effect is the opposite of what was intended.
And for clients too. The recipient of an invoice issued by a supplier on the scheme deducts the tax only on payment of the invoice, not on its receipt. A large client who pays at 60 or 90 days sees its own deduction deferred by exactly that period. This is why some buyers are reluctant to deal with suppliers on the cash accounting scheme, a reluctance that has nothing to do with the supplier's tax position and everything to do with their own.
The scheme does not apply to imports, intra-Community acquisitions and supplies, reverse-charge transactions or transactions with affiliated persons, which remain under the general rules even while the scheme is in use. The scheme does not change the rates: from 1 August 2025, under Article 291 of the Tax Code as amended by Legea nr. 141/2025, the standard rate is 21% and the single reduced rate is 11%.
The 4,500,000 lei threshold, checked against turnover for 2025 and against turnover for 2026 as at the date of the option. It is the threshold in force at the start of the year.
The 5,000,000 lei threshold, for options exercised and for checks on exceeding it from this date onward. Turnover is calculated by reference to the transactions carried out during the period in which the VAT registration number was valid.
Persons who exceeded 4,500,000 lei in January or February 2026, without exceeding 5,000,000 lei, are not removed from the register and are not required to notify. The transitional regime keeps them in the scheme.
Members of a single fiscal group, persons not established in Romania, and those who exceeded the threshold in the preceding year. Meeting the turnover condition does not help if one of the exclusions applies.
A person already registered for VAT before 2026 opts to apply the scheme from 1 January by filing a notification by 20 January inclusive. A person who registers during the year and opts in afterwards files the notification by the 20th, inclusive, of the month before the tax period from which the scheme is to apply, provided the threshold has not been exceeded as at the date of the option. The notification is made using Form 097 or Form 700.
Compulsory exit occurs when the threshold is exceeded during the year. The notification is filed by the 20th, inclusive, of the month following the tax period in which the threshold was exceeded, and the scheme continues to apply until the end of the tax period following the one in which the threshold was exceeded.
Voluntary exit is permitted at any time during the year, if the threshold has not been exceeded, by notification filed between the 1st and the 20th of the month, with one exception: the first year in which the scheme was opted into. Whoever has opted in must remain in the scheme for at least one year.
Turnover for 2025 and turnover for 2026 as at the date of the option, measured against the threshold in force at that date. Checking the exclusions: single fiscal group, establishment in Romania.
It is calculated on invoices from the last twelve months. The later you are paid, the greater the deferred output tax. It is the gross benefit of the scheme.
The same calculation, on purchases. The later you pay, the greater the deferred deduction. It is the gross cost of the scheme. The difference between the two figures is the first number that matters.
Identify the large clients with long payment terms, whose deduction will be deferred and who may react commercially. Losing a client wipes out any cash-flow advantage.
If large purchases with staggered payment are coming up, the deferral of the deduction on those sums should be quantified separately. The scheme can prove counterproductive in precisely the year of the investment.
Records kept on a receipts-and-payments basis, adapted ledgers, the mandatory wording on invoices, and the configuration of the accounting system. These are real costs, to be weighed against the cash-flow benefit, not ignored.
Opting out is not possible in the first year. The decision is made for at least twelve months, with the threshold projected over the whole period, so that exit is chosen, not imposed.
You are also deferring the deduction, both yours and your clients'. The scheme shifts two moments; the net advantage can be negative.
In the first year, opting out is not possible. And exceeding the threshold removes you from the scheme compulsorily, with notification due within the deadline.
From 1 March 2026 it is 5,000,000 lei, with a transitional regime for January and February. The old figure still appears in many sources.
They are, and they know it. Their deduction is deferred until payment. Commercial refusal is the most costly consequence of the scheme.
Output tax becomes chargeable on the date payment is received, not on the invoice date, so you no longer advance it to the state on invoices you have not been paid. In mirror image, the input tax on purchases is deducted only once the supplier has been paid. The scheme shifts both moments, not just the favourable one.
It was 4,500,000 lei until 28 February 2026 and is 5,000,000 lei from 1 March 2026, under Article 282(3) of the Tax Code. Turnover is checked for both the preceding year and the current year, as at the date of the option.
No. The transitional regime provides that persons who exceeded the old threshold in January or February 2026, without exceeding 5,000,000 lei, are not removed from the register and are not required to notify.
Because they too can deduct the tax on your invoices only when they pay, not when they receive the invoice. For a client who pays at 60 days, the deduction is deferred by 60 days. This is the commercial disadvantage of the scheme, often more significant than the administrative one.
If you have not exceeded the threshold, you may opt out at any time during the year, by notification filed between the 1st and the 20th of the month, except in the first year in which you opted in. If you have exceeded the threshold, exit is compulsory, with notification due by the 20th of the month following the tax period in which the threshold was exceeded.
No. Imports, intra-Community acquisitions and supplies, reverse-charge transactions and those with affiliated persons remain under the general chargeability rules, even if you apply the scheme to the rest of your transactions.
Informative material, updated on 18 September 2026. It does not constitute legal or tax advice; individual situations must be assessed on their own facts.
If your company has received a notification or has an inspection under way, the related analyses are grouped under tax inspection. For the assistance provided to companies, see corporate taxation.
An initial discussion puts the collection and payment periods, the client mix and any investment projects into numbers, so the decision is one of cash flow, not of principle.