VAT Refund Romania — How Romanian Hauliers Recover Fuel VAT from the EU

If you run a Romanian transport company with trucks crossing EU borders, you are almost certainly leaving money on the table. Every litre of diesel purchased in another EU country includes VAT — typically 19-27% depending on the member state — and you can claim most of it back.

The legal basis is EU Directive 2008/9/EC, which created a standardised electronic refund mechanism between member states. In practice, however, few Romanian hauliers use it, because the process is manual, document-heavy, and involves deadlines that are easy to miss.

What VAT can you recover?

Practically any business expense with VAT paid in another EU member state that relates to your transport operations:

• Fuel (diesel) — the biggest item; every refuelling stop abroad generates recoverable VAT
• Road tolls, vignettes, bridge and tunnel fees — many include VAT (see VAT on EU road tolls)
• Vehicle repairs and spare parts bought abroad
• Driver accommodation and ferry tickets

How the refund process works

You do not file directly with the foreign tax authority. Instead, Romania's ANAF (tax authority) acts as intermediary:

1. You collect invoices from each EU country where VAT was paid
2. You submit an electronic claim through ANAF (Form 318), grouping invoices by country and expense type
3. ANAF forwards your claim to the refund country's tax authority
4. The foreign authority processes the claim (4 months, extendable to 6 if they request clarifications)
5. The refund is paid directly to your company's bank account

Key deadlines

The filing deadline is September 30 of the following year. For example, invoices from January–December 2025 must be submitted by September 30, 2026. Miss this date and the VAT from that period is lost — there is no extension. See EU VAT refund deadlines and documents for the full timeline.

Required documents

• Original invoices (or scanned copies, above certain thresholds: €1,000 general, €250 for fuel)
• Bank account details for the refund payment
• Proof of VAT registration in Romania
• EU expenditure codes for each invoice category

How eurotaxe.ro simplifies the process

Upload your invoices (photo or PDF) into your account. An AI assistant reads each one automatically — issuer, country, amount, VAT — and fills in the claim. The eurotaxe team reviews everything and handles the actual filing with each country's tax authority. You pay nothing upfront: the commission is a percentage of the amount actually recovered.

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