Freelancers subject to VAT must issue e-invoices from January 1, 2026

The new Fiscalization Act, which will come into effect on January 1, 2026, not only increases the obligations of business entities that are already subject to fiscalization under the current regulations but also expands the circle of individuals who are subject to the obligation of fiscalization of issued and received invoices. Until the end of 2025, in the current system, where only cash invoices are fiscalized, the fiscalization payers are legal and natural persons who are corporate income tax payers and natural persons who are personal income tax payers from self-employment.

Natural persons who earn income from copyright fees, fees for delivered artistic works, athletes, and other earners of secondary income are currently not subject to fiscalization. Invoices are issued only by earners of copyright fees and other secondary income who are VAT payers, but these are not cash invoices and, according to the current regulations, they are not subject to the fiscalization process.

What changes

What changes from January 1, 2026? The circle of fiscalization payers is expanded to include legal and natural persons who are VAT payers, and the fiscalization process itself is introduced for all invoices, both cash and non-cash. Fiscalization payers will no longer be only legal and natural persons who are corporate income tax payers and natural persons who are personal income tax payers from self-employment, but also natural persons earning secondary income if they are VAT payers.

Authors, journalists, athletes, acquirers, court experts, interpreters, translators, and other natural persons who earn income from which they have chosen to pay personal income tax from self-employment or corporate income tax are obliged to issue invoices for the services rendered. They are, according to the current regulations, fiscalization payers, whether or not they are VAT payers. Since they do not issue cash invoices to business entities, but only non-cash ones, they are fiscalization payers, but do not carry out the fiscalization process for issued non-cash invoices. Of course, like other invoice issuers, they must adhere to the prescribed content of the invoice, which depends on whether or not they are VAT payers. From January 1, 2026, these natural persons will only have the obligation to carry out the fiscalization process for each issued invoice, regardless of whether or not they are VAT payers.

Additional costs

The changes will directly affect the obligations of natural persons who earn income from copyright fees and other forms of secondary income and are VAT payers. A secondary income earner becomes a VAT payer by law if their gross income in the current or previous year exceeds €60,000. If this occurs, they are obliged to register in the VAT payer registry, required to issue invoices for the services rendered whose content is regulated by VAT regulations, and from January 1, 2026, must issue them to business entities as e-invoices. Everything related to fiscalization payers 2.0, from obtaining the appropriate certificates to choosing software solutions and using the Tax Administration’s special application, also applies to natural persons earning secondary income who are VAT payers.

Undoubtedly, this will also incur new additional costs related to issuing outgoing invoices. The mere fact that a natural person earning secondary income is also a VAT payer, and therefore also obliged to issue and receive e-invoices fiscalized in the eTax system, will not affect the obligations of payers related to the calculation and payment of contributions and withholding tax on secondary income.

Equal calculation of secondary income

A recipient of copyright fees and other forms of secondary income who is also a VAT payer does not have to change the way they pay income tax because of this; they are not obliged to pay income tax from self-employment instead of tax on secondary income due to this fact. Their income continues to be taxed at the withholding tax rate, which includes the obligation of the secondary income payer to withhold income tax from the gross income at a lower tax rate for annual income, determined according to the municipality or city of residence of the secondary income earner.

In this regard, the payer of copyright fees and fees to athletes reduces the tax base for lump-sum recognized expenses by 30 percent when calculating income tax, and by 55 percent when calculating fees for delivered artistic works, provided they have valid documents regarding the right to reduce the tax base. Additionally, the secondary income payer is obliged to calculate and pay contributions from the income and on the income, unless it concerns income for which an exemption from this obligation is prescribed, and in all cases, submit the JOPPD form to the Tax Administration with data on the paid secondary income, withheld income tax, and mandatory contributions. The fiscalization that will be carried out for the issued non-cash invoice by a natural person earning secondary income who is a VAT payer will not affect the calculation of mandatory contributions and income tax.