Kosovo's new fiscalisation: from the fiscal device (PEF) to fiscal software (SEF)

Who this guide is for

This guide is for any business in Kosovo that issues fiscal receipts — a shop, café, restaurant, workshop, salon, market or service point — and for owners who have heard that "fiscal cash registers are being replaced" but do not know whether it affects them, when, and what to do today.

Three abbreviations first. PEF is the Electronic Fiscal Device — the fiscal cash register, the fiscal printer and electronic point-of-sale systems, that is the hardware on your counter. SF is the Fiscal System. SEF is Electronic Fiscal Software — a program that does the same job without dedicated hardware, signing each receipt electronically and sending it to the Tax Administration over the internet.

The legal basis is Administrative Instruction (MF) No. 01/2026 on the use of Electronic Fiscal Devices, Fiscal Systems and Electronic Fiscal Software, issued under Article 7(5) and Article 121 of Law No. 08/L-257 on Tax Administration Procedures.

1. What actually changed

The new instruction repeals Administrative Instruction MF-No. 02/2018 on the use of electronic fiscal devices and systems (Article 51(1)). Decisions issued by the Tax Administration on PEF and SF that do not conflict with it remain in force until new decisions are issued (Article 51(2)).

The essential change is not that the fiscal receipt became mandatory — it already was. The change is that a second route now exists: instead of a dedicated device, the receipt may be issued by certified software running on a computer, laptop, tablet or phone (Article 32(4)).

The instruction enters into force on the date of publication in the Official Gazette (Article 52). That date matters in practice, because the deadline explained below runs from it — so confirm it in the Official Gazette before you count days.

2. Who must issue a fiscal receipt

The obligation comes from Article 5 and is broader than many businesses assume:

• Everyone who supplies goods or services to the final consumer, regardless of the method of payment (Article 5(1)). That includes card and transfer payments, not only cash.
• Even when the supply to a final consumer is free of charge, a receipt is issued for tax purposes (Article 5(2)).
• For supplies to a business natural person, a legal person and other persons — that is, business to business — a tax invoice is used, not a receipt (Article 5(3)).

The moment of issue is governed by Article 6: the receipt is printed and given at the moment of payment; also for any payment made before the supply; and where goods are supplied now and paid later under agreed payment terms, the receipt is issued at the moment of supply, not when the money arrives.

3. Who must use SEF — and who need not

Article 31(1) sets out who is obliged to install SEF:

• Taxpayers under Article 5 carrying out retail sales or providing services in places or units open to the public, or any similar activity — including publicly owned and socially owned enterprises.
• Public institutions that accept cash payments for the services they provide.

The following are not obliged (Article 31(5)):

• Public institutions paid only through a bank account or other electronic means of payment.
• A business that supplies only to businesses — it issues a tax invoice as set out in the applicable tax legislation.

Watch a familiar trap: if you fall within the exempt category but at the same time carry out an activity that is not exempt, then for that part every individual turnover must be recorded in SEF (Article 31(6)). A warehouse that sells wholesale to businesses and occasionally sells to the public falls precisely here.

The Minister of Finance may exempt further categories by separate decision (Article 31(7)).

4. The deadline: two situations, two entirely different answers

This is where most public reporting goes wrong, so read it carefully. Article 50 — the transitional provisions — divides businesses into two groups:

• If you already HAVE a fiscal device (PEF/SF): the 60-day deadline does not apply to you. The Minister of Finance determines by decision which taxpayers transition and over what period (Article 50(1)). Until that decision, your device keeps working — the instruction itself guarantees the continued operation of devices in use before it entered into force (Article 1(2)).
• If you do NOT have a fiscal device and fall within the persons obliged under Article 8: from the date of entry into force you are no longer obliged to acquire a PEF/SF, but you are obliged to install and use SEF within sixty (60) days of that date. During that period you are required to use tax receipts fiscalised at the Tax Administration (Article 50(2)).

So the 60-day deadline repeated in the news is real, but it does not apply to a business that already has a fiscal cash register. It applies to a new business, or to one that has operated without a device and now falls within the obligation. Confusing the two leads either to unnecessary spending or to a missed deadline.

5. What you practically need to start with SEF

The instruction sets out the route in Articles 34 and 35. For a business it is four steps:

1. Choose certified SEF. Software developers and maintainers apply to the Tax Administration themselves and are registered; certified SEF is entered in the electronic register of developers (Article 35). You do not apply for certification — you buy from a certified developer.
2. Obtain the Fiscalisation Number in the Tax Administration's Electronic System (Article 34(3.5)).
3. Obtain a digital certificate for each SEF installed at a point of sale. It is generated and issued by the Tax Administration or another competent certification authority (Article 34(1)). A private key is generated for each SEF and must be kept at a high level of security (Article 34(2)).
4. Submit the data electronically: the Unique Identification Number or fiscal number, the unit number, the POS number, the software solution code and the Fiscalisation Number (Article 34(3)).

Note the word each: the digital certificate and private key are per installed SEF, not one for the whole business. Three points of sale mean three sets.

6. What the software does that the device did not

Article 32(2) lists the minimum every SEF must do: sign each fiscal receipt electronically, identify itself by digital certificate in the Tax Administration's system, establish a secure connection over HTTPS, generate the receipt with a QR code, connect to a printer in the format set by the Tax Administration, be upgraded as needed, send requests to the Tax Administration's system, and support multilingualism under the legislation on official languages.

The practical benefit for a small business is in paragraph 4 of the same article: SEF may run on a personal computer, laptop, tablet or smartphone. A small point of sale therefore does not necessarily need to buy dedicated hardware.

7. When the internet drops or the device fails

These are two different situations with different rules.

When communication with the Tax Administration is interrupted, SEF must continue generating receipts and store them securely within itself. As soon as the connection is restored, that data is sent automatically to the Tax Administration's Information System (Article 32(3)). Sales do not stop and there is no manual step for you.

When the device stops working entirely, the rule is stricter (Article 45):

• Issue receipts from a special block of fiscal receipts, which must be fiscalised at the Tax Administration and carry a printed serial number for each receipt, in two copies — the original for the consumer and the copy for you.
• Within 48 hours from the moment the device stopped, you must restore it to operation or provide a new one.
• Within 5 days after that deadline, all receipts issued from the block are recorded in SEF, from where they are sent automatically to the Tax Administration.

The special block is not something you arrange on the day the device fails — it must be fiscalised in advance. This is one of those things that costs precisely on the day you need it.

8. Penalties

The instruction sets no penalties of its own. Article 49 refers to Law No. 08/L-257 on Tax Administration Procedures: the penalties of that law apply to failure to comply with the provisions on fiscalisation and the issuing of fiscal receipts, and the penalties for failure to install, supply and maintain PEF/SF apply accordingly to SEF as well.

Retention of issued receipts is likewise governed by that law (Article 46).

What to do now

In order of what matters:

1. Establish which group you are in. Do you have a fiscal device or not? That alone changes which deadline applies to you.
2. If you have no device and fall within the obligation, do not buy a fiscal cash register — the instruction expressly releases you from that obligation and directs you to SEF within 60 days.
3. If you do have a device, do not replace it in a hurry. Wait for the Minister's decision setting out who transitions and when.
4. If you work only with businesses, check that you really have no sales to final consumers. The exemption falls away as soon as you have one.

If you are not sure where your business falls, or you have several points of sale with mixed activities, write to us before you buy anything. This is exactly the kind of decision where one phone call saves more than it costs.

Frequently asked questions on fiscalisation and SEF