Methodological norms for the minimum corporate income tax (IMCA) and for the micro-enterprise income tax, as well as amendments regarding the additional corporate income tax

We have dedicated the January newsletter to the tax changes applicable to SMEs starting with 2025. These are new rules on the application of the micro-enterprise regime, the increase in the dividend tax rate, the taxation of income from salaries, the status of large digitization projects (RO e-Invoice, RO e-Cash registers, Ro e-VAT, RO e-SAF-T), taxation of buildings and constructions, news regarding accounting rules (monthly trial balance, submission of annual financial statements).

1. News on the micro-enterprise tax regime in 2025

a. Reduction of the income ceiling achieved by companies that can apply the micro-enterprise regime

GEO 156/2024 on some fiscal-budgetary measures, published in Official Gazette 1334 of December 31, 2024, modifies the total annual income ceiling up to which a company can apply the micro-enterprise regime. This ceiling has been reduced from EUR 500,000 annually to:

• EUR 250,000 annually, for 2025 – thus, taxpayers who, as of 31.12.2024, had total income below this ceiling, and also meet the other conditions, can apply the microenterprise tax regime in 2025;
• EUR 100,000 starting with January 1, 2026 – thus, in 2026, only companies that, at the end of 2025, will have a turnover of up to 100,000 euros, and also meet the other conditions, will be able to apply the microenterprise tax regime.

If during a fiscal year a micro-enterprise achieves revenues of more than 250,000 euros (in 2025) and 100,000 euros respectively starting with January 1, 2026, it owes 16% profit tax starting with the quarter in which this limit was exceeded, without the possibility of opting for the next period to apply the micro-enterprise income tax regime.

The ceiling of €250,000 shall be verified both on 31.12.2024 and throughout 2025. Thus, in art. 54 para. (3) the Tax Code provides that, “for the fiscal year 2025/2026, the limit of the income achieved, representing the RON equivalent of EUR 250,000, respectively the RON equivalent of EUR 100,000 starting with January 1, 2026, shall be verified on the basis of the income earned by the Romanian legal entity on December 31, 2024, respectively on December 31, 2025.”

The income ceiling was modified by art. LXIV, item 2 of GEO 156/2024, whose application date is January 1, 2025 (see art. LXV (1) of GEO 156/2024), and not with the income of 2025, as the ceiling of EUR 500,000 was applied, when GO 16/2022 was approved by Law 370/2022 (see art. IX,  letter e) of GO 16/2022, amended and approved by Law 370/2022). For the completeness of the explanation and reasoning, art. 47 (1) a) of the Tax Code, amended by art. LXIV item 2 of GEO 156/2024, refers to conditions to be met by micro-enterprises on December 31^st of the previous year.

Please be reminded that the revenue ceiling is calculated cumulatively with the revenues of related companies (provision also valid for 2024, which remained unchanged in 2025). Thus, art. 52, para. (5¹) of the Fiscal Code provides that the tax limit regarding the ceiling of 250,000 euros, respectively 100,000 euros starting with January 1, 2026, is verified by taking into account micro entity’s revenues cumulated with the revenues of its related enterprises.

b. The possibility of applying the regime also by companies that obtain income from consulting and management

From January 1, 2025, the condition that the microenterprise must achieve no more than 20% of income from consulting and/or management is eliminated.

We do not have transitional measures that provide for whether on 31.12.2024 this rule (in force in 2024) must be met or not for the company to be micro in 2025, but only the rather unclear provision according to which “the condition regarding the share of consulting and/or management revenues in total revenues, as of December 31, 2024,  does not apply to the calculation of the limit of 250,000 euros”.

Probably the Government wanted to regulate that this condition for the application of the micro-enterprise regime should not be verified either on 31.12.2024, or after 01.01.2025, (because, in any case, the revenues from consultancy and management are included in the calculation of the total revenues, which must be a maximum of 250,000 EURO on 31.12.2024).

Therefore, micro-enterprises that, as of 31.12.2024, have achieved consulting and/or management revenues of more than 20% in total revenues, thus being payers of corporate income tax on 31.12.2024, might also apply the micro-enterprise regime in 2025, if they have achieved total revenues below the ceiling of EUR 250,000 in 2024 and meet the other conditions provided for in art. 47,  para. (1) of the Tax Code, however, the wording of the rule is far from expressing the fact that on 31.12.2024 the condition of maximum 20% income from consultancy and/or management does not have to be verified.

It is also worth analyzing whether a Romanian legal entity that was a profit tax payer in 2023 and 2024, because in these two years the rule according to which consulting and/or management revenues did not exceed 20% of total revenues was applied, can apply the microenterprise tax regime from 2025. The condition of limiting consulting and/or management revenues to a maximum of 20% of total revenues was introduced starting with 01.01.2023, by GO 16/2022, approved by Law 370/2022, and was applied in 2023 and 2024. Thus, micro-enterprises that, on 31.12.2022 or later, in 2023 or 2024, exceeded the threshold of 20% of revenues as consulting and/or management income, no longer applied this tax regime in 2023 and 2024, respectively, but they paid 16% profit tax.

Considering that art. 48, para. (2) of the Tax Code provides that “Romanian legal entities may choose to apply microenterprise income tax with the fiscal year following the one in which they meet the microenterprise conditions and if they have not been payers of microenterprise income tax after January 1, 2023”, the conclusion is that consulting and/or management firms that had revenues below EUR 250,000 in 2024 and also meet the other conditions at 31 December 2024 could opt in 2025 for application of the micro-enterprise regime.

c. Updating the list of NACE codes taxed at the rate of 3%, regardless of whether the income is below or above 60,000 EURO

GEO 156/2024 updates the NACE codes for which the 3% tax rate applies regardless of whether or not the threshold of 60,000 EURO total revenues is exceeded, as NACE Rev3, applicable from January 1, 2025, has replaced some NACE codes.

This is the case of coding for the IT sector (NACE 6210, 6290) and HoReCa (NACE 5611, 5612, 5622). For the new NACE Rev 3 codes for the HoReCa industry, the derogation from the general rule also applies, according to which Romanian legal entities may choose to apply microenterprise income tax starting with the fiscal year following the one in which they meet the conditions for micro-enterprises and if they have not been payers of microenterprise income tax after January 1, 2023,  respectively, these companies can apply the micro regime if they were not payers of microenterprise income tax, starting with the fiscal year 2024 (because in 2023 they could not apply the regime).

2. Taxation of dividends in 20255

a. Dividends distributed as of January 1, 2025

According to GEO 156/2024, the dividend tax, for dividends distributed starting with January 1, 2025, is 10% (art. LXV, para. (4) of GEO 156/2024).

b. Dividends distribution until 31.12.2024

GEO 156/2024 provides, as a transitional measure, that, in the case of dividends distributed on the basis of interim financial statements prepared during 2024/amended fiscal year starting in 2024, the dividend tax rate is 8%, without recalculating the tax on those dividends, after their settlement based on the annual financial statements for the financial year 2024/amended fiscal year starting in 2024,  approved according to the law (art. LXV, paragraph (5) of GEO 156/2024).

Therefore, the tax rate for dividends distributed from profits for the years prior to 2024 and including 2024 will be 8%, if the dividends were distributed until 31.12.2024 inclusive, or 10%, if the dividends are distributed starting with 01.01.2025.

c. Calculation of the mandatory health insurance contribution (“CASS”) for dividends distributed and paid to individuals

According to art. 170, para. (2) and (3) of the Tax Code, individuals who obtain income from other types of income than income from salaries and independent activities (therefore including dividends), which, cumulatively, exceed the ceiling of 6 minimum wages per economy, in the year of income collection, will also owe the mandatory health insurance contribution (CASS).

When calculating the ceiling of 6 minimum wages per economy, in the case of dividend income, the dividends paid in the year, reduced by the withholding tax, distributed starting with 2018, are taken into account. The calculation basis of the CASS will be 6, 12 or 24 minimum wages per economy, depending on the cumulative value of income, other than those from salaries and self-employment.

The CASS will be calculated taking into account the minimum wage in force at the beginning of the year in which the income for which the CASS is due is paid (i.e., 4050 lei for 2025).

3. News in the taxation of income from salaries

a.    The minimum wage in 2025 and the monthly non-taxable amount

Government Decision 1506/2024 increases the national minimum gross salary guaranteed in payment starting with January 1, 2025, to the level of 4,050 lei per month, for a normal work schedule of an average of 165,334 hours per month, representing 24,496 lei/hour.

According to art. LXVIII of GEO 156/2024, on the date of entry into force of GEO 156/2024, GEO 93/2023 for establishing the minimum gross basic wage per country guaranteed in payment for the construction, agricultural and food industry sectors is repealed.

However, art. LXIX of GEO 156/2024 provides that, for the construction sector, the minimum gross basic wage per country guaranteed in payment is set in money, not including allowances, bonuses and other additions, at the amount of 4,582 lei per month, for a normal work schedule of an average of 165,334 hours per month, representing an average of 27,714 lei/hour (i.e. the 2024 level is maintained).

Also, according to art. LXX of GEO 156/2024, starting with January 1, 2025, for the agricultural sector and the food industry, the minimum gross basic wage per country guaranteed in payment will be 4,050 lei per month, not including allowances, bonuses and other additions, for a normal work schedule of an average of 165,334 hours per month, representing an average of 24,496 lei/hour.

Taking into account the need to support the objective of increasing the net income of persons who earn income from salaries at the level of the national minimum gross wage guaranteed in payment, art. LXVI of GEO 156/2024 extends the application in 2025 of the provision according to which the amount of 300 lei/month is non-taxable salary income and which is not included in the monthly calculation base of mandatory social contributions.

Please be reminded that the provision applies to employees who carry out activity based on an individual employment contract, employed full-time, at the main job, if the following conditions are cumulatively met:

• the level of the gross monthly basic salary established according to the individual employment contract, without including bonuses and other additions, is equal to the level of the national minimum gross salary guaranteed in payment established by a normative act, in force in the month to which the income is related; The condition is not considered to be fulfilled if, during 2025, the level of the gross monthly basic salary established according to the individual employment contract, without including bonuses and other additions, is diminished.
• the gross income earned from salaries and assimilated to salaries, as defined in art. 76 para. (1) – (3) of the Tax Code (i.e. those components of the salary package that are not exempt from tax), without including the value of meal vouchers, holiday vouchers, respectively the food allowance, as the case may be, granted according to the law, based on the same individual employment contract, for the same month, does not exceed the level of 4,300 lei inclusive.

The public pension scheme contribution (“CAS”) and the mandatory health insurance contribution (“CASS”) due in the case of individuals who obtain income from salaries or assimilated to salaries, based on an individual full-time or a part-time employment contract, cannot be lower than the CAS and CASS level calculated on the minimum gross basic salary in force in the month for which the social security contributions are due minus the non-taxable amount of 300 lei, corresponding to the number of working days in the month in which the contract was active. Please be reminded that, if the social contributions are lower, the difference is borne by the employer/income payer on behalf of the employee/income beneficiary. 

b.    Elimination of tax incentives in the IT, construction, agriculture and food industries

Art. LXIV of GEO 156/2024 repeals the exemption from the payment of salary income tax for the IT, construction, agriculture and food industry sectors, previously provided for in art. 60, items 2, 5 and 7 of the Tax Code. The elimination of the exemption applies starting with the salary income related to January 2025 (art. LXV para. (3) of GEO 156/2024).

Also, starting with the income for January 2025, the provisions on the reduction of the CAS quota by the percentage points corresponding to the contribution rate to the privately managed pension fund provided for in Law no. 411/2004, for employees in these industries, are repealed.

Please be reminded that the tax exemption and the reduction of the CAS quota applied to a monthly income of maximum 10,000 lei, and the facility was initially planned to apply up until 31.12.2028.

4. Status of the big digitalization projects

a.    News on RO e-Invoice

Please be reminded that January 1, 2025 is the starting point for  the obligation to transmit through the RO e-Invoice system the invoices issued for the supplies of goods and services with the place of taxation in Romania, in the B2C relationship, an obligation introduced by GEO 69/2024 for amending and supplementing certain normative acts in the field of management and implementation of the national system on electronic invoicing RO e-Invoice and electronic fiscal cash registers, as well as for other fiscal measures, published in Official Gazette 582 of June 21, 2024. Between July 1 and December 31, 2024, the transmission of these invoices in the RO e-Invoice system was optional.

GEO 138/2024 on the amendment and completion of certain normative acts in the fiscal-budgetary field, as well as for the regulation of other measures, published in the Official Gazette 1222 of December 5, 2024, brings an important clarification related to the reporting of the buyer’s personal identification number (“PIN” or “CNP”) in the B2C transaction.

Thus, it is specified that the supplies of goods/services made to a natural person who does not identify himself in relation to the supplier/provider by any tax identification code or chooses to identify himself by personal identification number are considered to have been made in the B2C relationship. If the beneficiary, a natural person, is not identified by any tax identification code, the invoices are issued using a code consisting of 13 digits of zero instead of the beneficiary’s PIN.

Also, GEO 138/2024 makes some changes to the rules for the use of the national RO e-Invoice system, applicable starting with January 1, 2025, for invoices issued in the B2B relationship. Thus, the obligation to issue and transmit invoices on the B2B relationship, between taxable persons established in Romania, through RO e-Invoice is limited only for the supplies of goods and services that take place of delivery/provision in Romania.

Exceptions to the reporting obligation are for the fiscal receipts issued in accordance with GEO 28/1999, which meet the conditions of a simplified invoice, as well as invoices issued for intra-community supplies of goods, for which the beneficiary, a taxable person established in Romania, communicates a VAT registration code from another member state. This provision also applies to invoices issued in the B2C relationship.

Suppliers of goods / services in the B2C relationship are obliged to send the invoices issued to the recipients according to the provisions of the Tax Code.

Simplified invoices, other than fiscal receipts that meet the quality of simplified invoices, must be reported, starting with January 1, 2025, in the RO e-Invoice system.

Also from January 1, 2025, it is mandatory to enter the VAT registration code or tax identification code of the beneficiary, if he is a taxable person or a non-taxable legal person, on the simplified invoice (art. VI, item 19, and art. VII, para. (1) of GEO 138/2024).

Please be reminded that, up until July 1, 2025, the following exceptions to the use of the RO e-Invoice system, regulated by GEO 87/2024, are still in force:

• Until July 1, 2025, it is not mandatory to use the national RO e-Invoice system for the supplies of goods/services made by the cultural institutes/centers of other states operating on the territory of Romania based on intergovernmental agreements, but they may opt to use the system; until July 1, 2025, economic operators – taxable persons established in Romania,  who deliver goods/provide services to the cultural institutes/centers of other states operating on the territory of Romania based on intergovernmental agreements, do not have the obligation to transmit the invoices issued to them through the national RO e-Invoice system, unless the beneficiaries have opted to use the system.
• Until July 1, 2025, associations and foundations established on the basis of GO 26/2000, other NGO/patrimonial associations, political parties, cults, which are not registered for VAT purposes, do not have the obligation to use the national RO e-Invoice system, but they can opt for the use of the system. These persons, if they carry out economic activities, have the obligation to apply for registration in the mandatory RO e-Invoice Register by July 1, 2025, if they have not already opted for the application of the RO e-Invoice system. Entities from those categories who start carrying out economic activities after June 30, 2025, have the obligation to apply for registration in the mandatory RO e-Invoice Register before starting to carry out economic activities and are registered in the register within 3 working days from the date of the request. Economic operators – taxable persons established in Romania, who deliver goods/provide services to NGOs, political parties, cults, do not have the obligation to transmit the invoices issued to them through the national RO e-Invoice system, unless the beneficiaries are registered in the optional RO e-Invoice Register or, starting with July 1, 2025, in the mandatory RO e-Invoice Register.
• Until July 1, 2025, individual farmers who apply the Special Regime for Farmers (“Flat-Rate Scheme for Farmers”), do not have the obligation to use the national RO e-Invoice system, but they can opt to use the system. These persons, if they carry out economic activities, have the obligation to apply for registration in the mandatory RO e-Invoice Register by July 1, 2025, if they have not already opted for the application of the RO e-Invoice system. Persons who start carrying out economic activities after June 30, 2025 have the obligation to apply for registration in the mandatory RO e-Invoice Register before starting to carry out economic activities and are registered in the register within 3 working days from the date of the request. Economic operators – taxable persons established in Romania, who deliver goods/provide services to farmers subject to flat-rate VAT scheme, are not obliged to submit invoices issued to them through the national RO e-Invoice system, unless the beneficiaries are registered in the optional RO e-Invoice Register or, starting with 1 July 2025, in the mandatory RO e-Invoice Register.

b.    News regarding the obligation to issue tax receipts issued by electronic fiscal cash registers

Law no. 317/2024 amending and supplementing GEO 28/1999 on the obligation of economic operators to use electronic fiscal cash registers, as well as amending art. 319 of Law no. 227/2015 on the Tax Code, published in Official Gazette 1308 of 23 December 2024, introduces an exception to the rule according to which the trader is obliged to hand over the tax receipt to the customer.

Thus, for the retail sales paid by using credit/debit cards, users are not required to print/hand over tax receipts with electronic fiscal cash registers to customers. At the request of customers, users can print and hand them the receipt. The lack of a printed tax receipt does not affect the rights of consumers provided by Government Ordinance 21/1992 on consumer protection, republished, with subsequent amendments and completions, the bank account statement taking the place of the tax receipt as a means of proof of the purchase.

The law also provides that, in the case of unsupervised equipment such as commercial vending machines that work exclusively on the basis of card payments, the electronic fiscal cash register is not mandatory.

The law also amends art. 319 para. (10) of the Tax Code, in the sense that it legislates that the taxable person is exempt from the obligation to issue an invoice for the supplies of goods through retail stores and the provision of services to the population, for which the issuance of tax receipts is mandatory, as well as for the supplies of goods and services to the population made through unsupervised equipment such as commercial vending machines operating exclusively on the basis of card payments.

c.    News regarding Ro e-VAT

Please be reminded that, by GEO 70/2024, amended by GEO 87/2024, the RO e-VAT system was established, the operation of which involves the following information flow between National Agency for Tax Administration (“NATA”) and taxpayers registered as VAT payers:

1. The VAT return is submitted by the taxpayer by the 25th of the month following the fiscal period to which it refers.
2. The pre-filled RO e-VAT return is sent by ANAF, for each fiscal reporting period, to taxable persons registered for VAT purposes, by electronic means, until the 5th of the month following the legal deadline for submitting the VAT return. The pre-filled RO e-VAT return contains data and information regarding the economic operations declared by the taxable persons and transmitted in the computer systems of the Ministry of Finance and NATA: RO e-Invoice, RO e-Electronic Cash Registers, RO e-Transport, RO e-Seal, RO e-SAF-T, integrated customs information system.
3. After identifying the material differences between the VAT return and the pre-filled return, the form “RO e-VAT Compliance Notification» is sent by ANAF, by electronic means, until the 5th of the month following the legal deadline for submitting the VAT return. In the event that differences below the materiality threshold are identified, NATA, based on the risk analysis, may still send over the “RO e-VAT Compliance Notification”. Material differences are understood to be the values that exceed the materiality threshold that meets the cumulative conditions of at least 20% and an absolute value of at least RON 5,000, resulting from the comparison of the values entered in the rows of the VAT return submitted by the taxable person with those corresponding to the rows of the pre-filled RO e-VAT return. 
4. The taxable person registered for VAT purposes has the obligation to transmit, by electronic means, the result of the verifications carried out on the differences communicated by the “RO e-VAT Compliance Notification“, in response to it, within 20 days from the date of receipt of the notification.
5. NATA analyzes the taxable person’s response to the “RO e-VAT compliance notification” and takes adequate legal measures (e.g. it can initiate a documentary control, a tax inspection or it can close the case).

By GEO 87/2024, the application of step iii. above (i.e. the taxpayer’s response to the VAT compliance notification, with the consequences arising from the non-fulfillment of this obligation), were postponed until January 1, 2025.

GEO 138/2024 postpones the application of some provisions regarding the system until 01.07.2025.

• Thus, the obligation of the taxable person registered for VAT purposes to submit, by electronic means, the result of the verifications carried out on the differences communicated by the “RO e-VAT Compliance Notification”, within 20 days from the date of receipt of the notification, in response to it, is postponed until July 1, 2025. Also, the application of sanctions for non-fulfillment of the taxable person’s obligation to transmit, by electronic means, the result of the verifications carried out on the differences communicated by the “RO e-VAT compliance notification”, in response to it, within 20 days from the date of receipt of the notification, is postponed until July 1, 2025 (art. 7 of GEO 70/2024).
• Before July 1, 2025, the RO e-VAT Compliance Notification is not taken into account when establishing the fiscal risk indicators. As of this date, the failure to provide or partially provide the information to clarify the differences between the values pre-filled through the pre-filled RO e-VAT return and the values filled in by the taxable person registered for VAT purposes through the VAT return is considered a tax risk indicator regarding the level of VAT declaration (art. 8 of GEO 70/2024).

From the second half of 2025, taxable persons registered for VAT purposes will be considered to be at risk of undue VAT refund also if they are in at least one of the following situations:

• do not submit the response to the “RO e-VAT Compliance Notification”;
• there are significant differences, and complete and/or conclusive information and data have not been submitted in response to the “RO e-VAT Compliance Notification”, which may lead to the refund of undue amounts and at the same time the existence of the risk of tax evasion.

Last but not least, please be reminded that, in the case of taxable persons who apply the VAT cash accounting system, the provisions of the RO e-VAT system apply starting with August 1, 2025 (GEO 87/2024, which amended art. 16 para. (2) of GEO 70/2024).

d.    SAF-T reporting is mandatory for small taxpayers as well

January 1, 2025 is the deadline from which small taxpayers are also obliged to submit the SAF-T report, according to Order no. 1783/2021 on the nature of the information that the taxpayer/payer must declare through the standard audit file for tax, the reporting model, the procedure and conditions of transmission, as well as the transmission deadlines and the date/dates from which the categories of taxpayers/payers are obliged to submit the standard audit file for tax.

The standard audit file for tax (SAF-T) is submitted by taxpayers/payers through the Informative Statement regarding the standard audit file for tax, hereinafter referred  to as the Informative Statement D406. The D406 informative declaration is submitted in electronic format, the deadline for submission being:

• the last calendar day of the month following the reporting period, respectively the calendar month/quarter, as the case may be, for information other than those regarding the “Inventories” and “Assets” sections;
• at the deadline for submitting the financial statements for the financial year, in the case of the “Assets” section;
• at the deadline set by the central fiscal body, which cannot be less than 30 calendar days from the date of the request, in the case of the “Inventories” section.

Taxpayers/Payers submit the Informative Declaration D406 monthly or quarterly, following the applicable fiscal period for VAT. Taxpayers whose fiscal period for VAT is the semester or the year shall submit the Informative Statement D406 quarterly. Taxpayers who are not registered for VAT purposes submit the Informative Declaration D406 quarterly.

The deadline for submitting the D406 informative declarations regarding the standard audit file for tax is the last calendar day of the month of submission, representing the calendar month immediately following the period for which the informative declaration was prepared.

Taxpayers/Payers benefit from a grace period of:

• 6 (six) months for the first reporting, respectively five (five) months for the second reporting, 4 (four) months for the third reporting, 3 (three) months for the fourth reporting, 2 (two) months for the fifth reporting, for taxpayers who have the obligation to submit the SAF-T file monthly;
• 3 (three) months for the first reporting, for taxpayers who have the obligation to submit the SAF-T file quarterly.

The grace period is calculated starting from the last day of the reporting period for which it is granted, when the transmission obligation becomes effective for the respective taxpayer. Therefore, the grace period for submitting SAF-T reports for small taxpayers expires on July 31, 2025 and refers to SAF-T reports for the period January – June 2025.

Thus, taxpayers/payers are not sanctioned contraventionally, if they submit the valid Informative Statement D406, for the periods January-June 2025, within the maximum term provided above. After July 31, 2025, failure to submit the standard audit file for tax within the deadlines provided by law will be sanctioned with a fine ranging between 1,000 lei and 5,000 lei, and incorrect or incomplete submission of the standard audit file for tax will be sanctioned with a fine ranging between 500 lei and 1,500 lei.

The following categories of taxpayers have the obligation to submit the standard audit file for tax (SAF-T), through the Informative Statement D406:

• autonomous administrations;
• national research and development institutes;
• joint stock companies (S.A.);
• joint stock partnerships (SCA);
• limited partnerships (SCS);
• general partnerships (SNCs);
• limited liability companies (S.R.L.);
• national companies/companies;
• craft cooperative organizations (OC1);
• consumer cooperative organizations (OC2);
• cooperative credit organizations (OC3);
• units without legal personality in Romania that belong to legal entities based abroad;
• foreign legal entities that carry out activity through a permanent establishment/several permanent establishments in Romania;
• foreign legal entities that have the place of effective management in Romania;
• associations with patrimonial purpose;
• associations/persons without patrimonial purpose;
• collective investment undertakings that are not constituted by articles of incorporation, as provided for in the capital market legislation, voluntary pension funds, privately managed pension funds and other entities organized on the basis of the Civil Code;
• non-resident companies that have a VAT registration code in Romania (taxpayers registered through direct registration, taxpayers registered through a tax representative, VAT fixed establishments);
• other legal entities that are not expressly mentioned as being excluded from the reporting obligation.

The following categories of taxpayers are not required to submit the standard audit file for tax (SAF-T):

• authorized natural persons (PFA);
• sole proprietorships (II);
• family businesses (FIs);
• individuals who carry out for-profit activities (PFL);
• family associations (ASF);
• professional law firms with limited liability (SPAR) and individual law firms;
• professional notarial societies and individual notarial offices;
• individual medical offices (CMI);
• Professional Societies of Insolvency Practitioners (SPI);
• one-person professional limited liability enterprises (URLs);
• public institutions (PUB), regardless of their source of financing or the category of taxpayers to which they are classified;
• administrative authorities, regardless of their source of funding;

legal entities that use classified information or hold documents whose technical specifications are classified according to the law or carry out classified contracts that impose, according to the legal provisions, special security measures to protect essential security interests of the state, in the situation in which by submitting the D406 (SAF-T) declaration they would provide such information.

5. Taxation of buildings and construction in 20255

a.    Tax on buildings

Please be reminded that, by GEO 124/2024 (art. IX, letter i), the application of the provisions of OG 16/2022, approved by Law 370/2022, regarding the reform of the property tax due to local authorities, was postponed until 01.01.2026. Initially, these provisions should have applied from 01.01.2023, later the date was postponed to 01.01.2025 (Law 370/2022), and GEO 124/2024 moved this application deadline starting with 01.01.2026.

Thus, in 2025 we have in force the same provisions applied in 2024, according to which:

• the tax rates on buildings are differentiated between individual owners, respectively legal persons, and between residential and non-residential buildings;
• The taxable value of the building, different from the market value of the building, is also calculated differently, when the owner is a natural or legal person, respectively when the destination is a residential or non-residential building.

Thus, in 2025, the building tax due by legal entities is calculated by applying the following tax rates provided for in art. 460 of the Fiscal Code:

• For residential buildings, the tax/levy on buildings is calculated by applying a rate between 08%-0.2% on the taxable value of the building.
• For non-residential buildings, the tax/levy on buildings is calculated by applying a rate between 2%-1.3% on the taxable value of the building.
• For non-residential buildings, used for agricultural activities, the building tax/levy is calculated by applying a rate of 4% on the taxable value of the building.
• In the case of mixed-use buildings, the tax is determined by adding the tax calculated for the area used for residential purposes, with the tax calculated for the area used for non-residential purposes.

The rate of tax/levy on buildings is established by the decision of the local council. At the level of the Municipality of Bucharest, this attribution is the responsibility of the General Council of the Municipality of Bucharest.

For the purpose of establishing the tax/levy on buildings, the taxable value of the buildings owned by legal entities is the value as of December 31 of the year prior to the year for which the tax/fee is due and can be:

• the last taxable value recorded in the records of the tax authority;
• the value resulting from an appraisal report prepared by an authorised appraiser in accordance with the property appraisal standards in force at the date of the appraisal;
• the final value of the construction works, in the case of new buildings, built during the previous fiscal year;
• the value of the buildings resulting from the deed by which the ownership right is transferred. In the event that the value is not specified in the documents attesting the ownership, the last value recorded in the database of the tax authority shall be used;
• in the case of buildings that are financed under a financial leasing contract, the value resulting from an appraisal report drawn up by an authorized appraiser in accordance with the property valuation standards in force at the date of the appraisal;
• in the case of buildings for which the building levy is due, the value entered in the books of the building owner and communicated to the concessionaire, lessee, holder of the right of administration or use, as the case may be.

The taxable value of the building is updated every 5 years on the basis of a building valuation report drawn up by an authorized appraiser in accordance with the property valuation standards in force on the valuation date, submitted to the local tax authority by the first payment deadline of the reference year. In the event that the valuation report is submitted after the first payment deadline of the reference year, it takes effect starting with January 1 of the following fiscal year.

If the owner of the building has not updated the taxable value in the last 5 years prior  to the reference year, the rate of the tax/levy on buildings is 5%, provided that the owner of the building has been notified by the competent tax authority about the possibility of submitting the valuation report. The notification is communicated to the owner of the building by publishing it in the virtual private space or by mail, in the case of taxpayers who are not enrolled in the SPV. The deadline for communicating the notification is October 31 of the current year for the tax due starting with the following year. If the notification is not communicated by this date, the tax is to be calculated by applying the normal (unincreased) rate on the taxable value of the building.

The duration between 2 evaluation reports was increased from 3 years to 5 years, by Law 296/2020, with applicability from December 24, 2020.

The building tax is due for the entire fiscal year by the person who owns the building on December 31 of the previous fiscal year. In case of acquisition or construction of a building during the year, its owner has the obligation to submit a declaration to the local tax authority in whose territorial area of competence the building is located, within 30 days from the date of acquisition and owes building tax starting with January 1 of the following year.

In case of extension, improvement, partial demolition or other modifications brought to an existing non-residential building, which determine the increase or decrease of the taxable value of the building by more than 25%, the owner has the obligation to submit a new tax return to the local tax authority in whose territorial jurisdiction the building is located, within 30 days from the date of the respective change,  and owe the building tax determined under the new conditions starting with January 1 of the following year.

The building tax is paid annually, in two equal installments, until March 31 and September 30, inclusive. For the advance payment of the tax/levy on buildings, due for the entire year by the taxpayers, until March 31 of the respective year, a bonus of up to 10% inclusive is granted, established by decision of the local council. At the level of the Municipality of Bucharest, this attribution is the responsibility of the General Council of the Municipality of Bucharest.

From 2026, when the provisions of GO 16/2022, approved by Law 370/2022, will come into force, buildings will be taxed at their market value, the tax rate no longer being differentiated between individual owners, respectively legal entities, but only according to the destination of the building: residential and non-residential.

The Tax Code no longer provides for a range of values within which local councils can choose the applicable rate, but only for a minimum threshold of the tax rate, namely min 0.1% for residential buildings and minimum 0.5% for non-residential buildings. The rate of the tax/levy on buildings is established by decision of the local council. At the level of the Municipality of Bucharest, this attribution is the responsibility of the General Council of the Municipality of Bucharest.

In order to determine the value of the building and the land covered by it for the reference year, the values contained in the Market Studies regarding the indicative values regarding real estate properties in Romania, administered by the National Union of Public Notaries of Romania, related to the year prior to the reference year, will be used.

If in the Market Studies regarding the indicative values regarding real estate properties in Romania, administered by the National Union of Public Notaries of Romania, the value of the building is calculated by multiplying the developed built area expressed in square meters, with the value per square meter included in these studies. If the values are expressed in euros, the exchange rate of the euro on December 31 of the year prior to the reference year will be used.

In the event that the Market Studies regarding the indicative values regarding real estate properties in Romania, administered by the National Union of Public Notaries in Romania, do not contain information about the buildings or land covered by these buildings within the radius of an administrative-territorial unit, the following rules will apply:

• in the case of a residential building, the building tax is calculated by applying the rate of at least 0.1% on the taxable value determined according to the provisions of art. 457 of the Tax Code in force on December 31, 2022 (see the provisions applicable in 2024);
• In the case of a non-residential building, the building tax is calculated by applying the rate of at least 0.5% on the last value recorded in the tax authority’s database, on December 31, 2022 (see the provisions applicable in 2024).

From 2026, we no longer have a tax on mixed-use buildings calculated as the amount of the tax for the residential part added to the tax on the non-residential part. The local tax authorities will reclassify the buildings comprising both residential and non-residential areas in the category of residential or non-residential buildings, based on the information they have and the situation existing on December 31 of the year prior to the reference year.

From 2026, the local tax authorities will prepare and send communications to taxpayers, regarding the value of buildings and land covered by them, as well as the tax related to them, calculated based on the values contained in the Market Studies regarding the indicative values regarding real estate properties in Romania, administered by the National Union of Public Notaries in Romania. In the event that the taxpayers do not respond to the local tax authority within 30 days from the receipt of the communication,  the data entered in the communication shall be considered tacit acceptance.

In order to implement the new provisions, Romania is preparing to introduce the new property tax system, called e-Proprietatea. Thus, starting with January 1, 2026, this system will centralize all information about the properties owned by citizens and will set property taxes according to their market values. We will see if the market values remain linked with the Market Studies regarding the indicative values regarding real estate properties in Romania, administered by the National Union of Public Notaries in Romania, or a different system will be implemented.

According to the official communications, e-Property is a commitment included in Romania’s National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP). Its purpose is to provide a clear picture of the value of real estate in the country, so that taxation is more transparent and fair. The database will be created by collecting information from the cadastre, notaries and local authorities. This will allow for the correct valuation of properties and the application of a fair tax.

b.    Construction tax

The construction tax, introduced in the past by GEO 102/2013, and whose applicability was limited by Law 11/2015, until 31.12.2016, was reintroduced by art. LXIV, items 16-19 of GEO 156/2024.

According to art. 497 of the Tax Code, the constructions are those provided in group 1 of the Catalogue on the classification and normal operating durations of fixed assets (used for the computation of the fiscal depreciation):

• Subgroup 1.1: Industrial Constructions
• Subgroup 1.2: Agricultural constructions
• Subgroup 1.3: Constructions for postal transport and telecommunications
• Subgroup 1.4: Hydrotechnical constructions
• Subgroup 1.5: Construction for business, trade, warehousing
• Subgroup 1.6: Housing and social-cultural constructions
• Subgroup 1.7: Constructions for the transmission of electricity
• Subgroup 1.8: Constructions for water supply, sewerage and land improvements
• Subgroup 1.9: Constructions for the transport and distribution of oil, gas, industrial liquids, compressed air and district heating
• Subgroup 1.10: Other constructions not found in group 1.

According to art. 496 of the Tax Code,  the following are obliged to pay the construction tax:

• Romanian legal persons, with the exception of public institutions, national research and development institutes, associations, foundations and other non-patrimonial legal persons, according to the laws of organization and functioning;
• foreign legal entities that carry out activity through a permanent establishment in Romania;
• legal entities with registered office in Romania established according to European legislation.

In the case of financial leasing operations, the user has the status of taxpayer, and in  the case of operational leasing operations, the lessor has the status of taxpayer.

The tax is calculated by applying a rate of 1% on the value of the constructions existing in the taxpayers’ patrimony on December 31 of the previous year (i.e. gross book value), from which the value of the buildings for which building tax is due is subtracted.

In the event that, during the current year, there are operations to increase or decrease the value of constructions, the construction tax is not recalculated. These changes are taken into account for determining the construction tax due for the following year.

The construction tax is declared until May 25 inclusive of the year for which the tax is due, and is paid in two equal installments, until June 30 and October 31 inclusive.

For taxpayers who fall under art. 16 para. (5) of the Tax Code (i.e., taxpayers who have a fiscal year different from the calendar year), the construction tax is applied starting with the amended fiscal year starting in 2025.

The value of buildings in industrial, scientific and technological parks which, according to the law, do not benefit from the exemption from paying the building tax, also falls under the scope of these provisions. In the case of constructions of the public/private domain of the state or of the administrative-territorial units, the tax is due by the taxpayers who have them in administration/concession/use free of charge/rent.

Also, unlike the regulation applied until 31.12.2016, the “pole tax” is due starting with 01.01.2025 also for:

• the value of the reconstruction, modernization, consolidation, modification or extension works to rented buildings, taken into administration or in use;
• the value of the constructions and of the works of reconstruction, modernization, consolidation, modification or extension of the constructions, which are or are to be passed, in accordance with the legal provisions in force, into the property of the state or of the administrative-territorial units;
• the value of the constructions in subgroup 1.2 “Agricultural constructions” of the Catalogue on the classification and normal operating times of fixed assets;
• the value of the constructions located outside the state border of Romania, as defined according to the law, including those located in the contiguous area of Romania and the exclusive economic zone of Romania;
• the value of the constructions in the public domain of the state and which are part of the material base of representation and protocol, as well as those in the public and private domain of the state, rented or given in use to public institutions, constructions administered by the Autonomous Regia “Administration of the State Protocol Patrimony”;
• the value of the constructions owned by the sports structures, defined according to the law.

Unlike the old regulation of the “pole tax”, the current regulation does not include a limited period for application.

According to art. LXXV, of GEO 156/2024, within 90 days from the date of entry into force of GEO 156/2024 (i.e., from 31.12.2024), the Ministry of Finance will issue methodological norms on the application of the provisions on the new construction tax. These rules should clarify, among other things, who and under what conditions pays the construction tax for the fittings of the rented spaces made by the tenants (and recorded in the tenant’s accounting records), especially since, in certain situations, their value must be included in the taxable base of the building tax due by the owner.

6. Accounting regulations – news applicable from 2025

a.    Obligation to draw up the monthly trial balance

GEO 138/2024 has amended Law 82/1991 – the Accounting Law. Thus, in art. 22 it is specified that, “in order to verify the correct recording in the books of the transactions performed, the trial balance shall be drawn up monthly.” Previously, the trial balance had to be drawn up at least at the end of the financial year, at the deadlines for preparing the financial statements, accounting reports, as well as at the end of the period for which the entity must prepare the corporate income tax return, according to the law (practically, every 6 or 12 months).

b.    Submission of annual financial statements – deadline and format

GEO 138/2024 also establishes fixed deadlines for submitting annual financial statements to the competent tax authority subordinated to NATA, as follows:

• until May 31 of the following financial year, for companies regulated by Law 31/1990, national companies, autonomous companies, national research and development institutes, subunits without legal personality in Romania belonging to legal entities based abroad, except for subunits opened in Romania by companies resident in states belonging to the European Economic Area. Entities in this category that have opted for a financial year other than the calendar year shall submit the annual financial statements within 150 calendar days from the end of the financial year thus chosen, calculated starting with the date subsequent to the date which the respective annual financial statements refer to.
• until April 30 inclusive of the financial year following the reporting one, for other legal entities; the entities in this category that have opted for a financial year other than the calendar year shall submit the annual financial statements within 120 calendar days from the end of the financial year thus chosen, calculated starting with the date subsequent to the one which the respective annual financial statements refer to.

If the data provided above are non-working days, the last reporting day is  the first working day following them.

Thus, the confusion created by the regulation of the submission deadlines as a number of days from the end of the financial year is eliminated. Please be reminded that NATA and MF had to clarify through a press release what is the deadline by which the annual financial statements for 2024 had to be submitted by micro-enterprises, in order for them to meet the condition of maintaining the application of the micro-enterprise tax regime[1].

Starting with the financial year 2025, the annual financial statements/accounting reports are submitted only in electronic format according to the specifications published on the NATA portal, according to art. XI of GEO 138/2024. Entities that have chosen a financial year other than the calendar year shall apply this requirement starting with the annual financial statements corresponding to the first financial year so chosen, which begins after January 1, 2025.

[1] Press Release – submission of financial statements by micro-enterprises; Information regarding the submission of the annual financial statements – Home – MF

7. News on the Single Declaration

GEO 128/2024 for amending and supplementing Law no. 227/2015 on the Fiscal Code and specific measures for digitization, as well as for amending and supplementing certain normative acts, published in Official Gazette 1125 of November 11, 2024, brings changes to the way of declaring income tax by individuals, through the single annual declaration, consisting of:

• The regulation of the elimination from the declaration of the sections dedicated to the estimation of the income for the current year – applies starting with the income statement for the year 2024, the model of which was adopted by Order 7015/2024
• Starting with the income of the fiscal year 2025, the pre-filled single declaration will be sent to taxpayers, based on the data on the income earned and the income tax due, the calculation basis of the social security contribution and the health insurance contribution, as well as the amount of contributions due, for the year of income realization, according to the information available in the databases.

We will dedicate a separate newsletter to this statement, as well as other changes regarding the taxation of personal income and social contributions, in one of the next editions.