Before you start

CNP and residence permit
Determination of your Romanian tax residence status
Employer payroll registration, or ANAF registration if self-employed
Records of any foreign income and assets

Step-by-step

1
Establish whether you are a Romanian tax resident
Romania applies the usual tests — domicile, centre of vital interests, and presence for more than 183 days in any 12 consecutive months. Becoming a resident brings worldwide income into scope, generally from the year following the determination. Anyone with foreign income should get this determined explicitly rather than assuming.
OnlineWho: You
2
Let payroll handle it if you are a straightforward employee
Employers withhold the 25% pension contribution, the 10% health contribution and the 10% income tax, and file the monthly declaration. Most employees never submit anything to ANAF at all. Check the first payslip carefully — the arithmetic should be visible line by line.
Via employerWho: You
3
File the single declaration if you have other income
Income outside employment — rent, freelance work, dividends, capital gains, foreign income — goes on the Declarația Unică, filed through the ANAF SPV online portal. Registering for the SPV is worth doing early; it is the only sane way to deal with ANAF.
OnlineWho: You
4
Pay your sector's local property tax by the annual deadline
If you own property in Bucharest, the tax is declared and paid to your sector's local tax office, not to a central city authority. There is an early-payment discount for settling the full year in the first months. Tenants do not pay this, but should know it exists when a landlord raises it.
In personWho: You
5
Reprice any offer that assumes the IT exemption
The income tax exemption for software development staff was removed with effect from 1 January 2025. If a recruiter, calculator or offer letter shows an IT net figure without income tax, it is using pre-2025 rules and the real net will be lower.
Via employerWho: You
6
Take advice before setting up a microenterprise for tax reasons
The Romanian microenterprise regime is widely promoted to freelancers, but it has been narrowed repeatedly: the revenue ceiling dropped to €100,000 from January 2026 and the special rate for custom software development was removed. Dividend tax also rose to 16% from January 2026. The arithmetic that made this attractive three years ago no longer holds.
OnlineWho: You

Documents you’ll need

CNP and residence permit
Annual income statement from the employer
ANAF SPV online portal credentials
Records of foreign income and assets
Local tax decisions from your sector, if you own property or a vehicle

Things most newcomers don’t know

The IT salary exemption was repealed from 1 January 2025, and the internet has not caught up.

For about two decades, employees doing software development work in Romania paid no personal income tax on that salary, subject to conditions on qualification and employer revenue. It was narrowed in 2023 and 2024 and then removed entirely from the start of 2025. Salary calculators, forum posts and even some recruiters still quote net figures built on it. If you are negotiating an engineering salary in Bucharest, model 10% income tax on the post-contribution base and treat any higher net figure as an error.

Source: ANAF; Romanian Fiscal Code amendments

The flat 10% is real but it is the smallest of the three deductions.

Romania's marketing rests on the lowest headline income tax rate in the EU. What sits underneath it is a 25% employee pension contribution and a 10% employee health contribution, both taken from gross before the income tax applies. The employee's own deductions total roughly 45% of gross. Romania is a moderate-tax country with a low-tax headline, and comparing offers on the headline alone produces badly wrong conclusions.

Source: ANAF

Local property and vehicle taxes are a sector matter, with an early-payment discount most people miss.

Bucharest's six sectors each administer their own local taxes. Property and vehicle taxes are declared and paid there, with a discount — commonly in the region of 10% — for paying the whole year in the first months. Because there is no single city counter and no reminder in the post for new owners, the first year is frequently paid late, at full price, with a penalty.

Source: Bucharest sector local tax administrations

The microenterprise regime has been narrowed twice and the freelance arithmetic has changed.

The Romanian microenterprise has been the standard freelance vehicle for years, but the threshold fell from €500,000 to €250,000 and then to €100,000 from January 2026, the brief 3% rate for custom software development was withdrawn, and dividend tax rose from 10% to 16%. The structure that a colleague set up in 2022 and still recommends may now be worse than simple employment. Model it against current rules before incorporating.

Source: ANAF; 2026 Romanian budget law

Common mistakes to avoid

Accepting a salary figure calculated on the pre-2025 IT income tax exemption.
Comparing a Romanian offer to a Western one on the 10% headline rate alone.
Missing your sector's early-payment discount on local property tax.
Setting up a microenterprise on advice that predates the 2026 threshold and dividend changes.
Failing to register for the ANAF SPV portal and then trying to deal with them on paper.

Some of this may be out of date. Spotted something inaccurate? Help us keep it right for the next newcomer.