Romania’s Finance Ministry on August 14 published the measures to be included, besides the measures targeting the local administration and the state-owned enterprises, and possibly the special pension law, in the second package of reforms aimed at budgetary consolidation. The Ministry of Development also published the chapter on local administration.
The measures proposed by the Finance Ministry had been previously disclosed during a press conference by finance minister Alexandru Nazare, but the document published by his ministry for public debates includes small supplementary measures regarding the regime of freelancers and of those renting properties (particularly on the Airbnb platform).
The package will be approved by Parliament under the same simplified procedure used by the government for the first package of reforms, which provides for no debates in the legislative body on the measures but give the lawmakers the option to file a no-confidence vote against the executive.
The main measure in the package regards the profit shifting done by multinational companies. Similar to the Base Erosion and Anti-abuse Tax (BEAT) in the United States, Romania will levy a 16% tax on the companies’ expenditures with foreign affiliates in four risk areas (management fee, consultancy, interest on loans, and intellectual property) in excess of 3% of the deductibilities in these categories of expenses.
In 2024, these four categories of expenses accounted for a total of RON 15 billion (EUR 3 billion). The 16% tax would be levied on this amount, after the subtraction of the 3% of total deductibles.
The package also introduces a RON 25 (EUR 5) “logistics fee” on the parcels with a value of under EUR 150 (not subject to import duties) arriving from extra-EU senders. The fee aims at targeting the parcels based on their origin of sender – and not the commercial entity (Temu/Shein) selling it to Romanian customers in an attempt to prevent platforms from setting logistic hubs in other EU countries.
Other measures included in the document published by the Finance Ministry:
Increase the tax on stock market incomes, from 3% to 4% for instruments held in investors’ portfolios for less than a year and from 1% to 2% for instruments held more than a year.
Higher contributions to public health systems (CASS) to be paid by self-employed workers. It is planned to increase the maximum ceiling of the CASS calculation base for self-employed workers from 60 gross minimum wages per country to 90.
The annual net income from the provision of accommodation services is determined by deducting from the gross income the expenses determined by applying the flat rate of 30% on the gross income. The gross income represents the total amount in money and/or the equivalent in lei of the income in kind, collected during the fiscal year. The annual tax due is calculated by applying the rate of 10% on the annual net income, the tax being final.
Those who rent on Airbnb or offer accommodation in their personal home will be required to have electronic cash registers and issue tax receipts.
The share capital upon establishment increases to RON 8,000 (EUR 1,600) for limited liability companies.
The method of calculating the income norm for people who earn income from independent activities is changing – it will no longer be a fixed amount, but will be calculated based on the gross minimum wage in the country.
Legal entities are required to have an account with a credit institution in Romania throughout their activity; newly established legal entities are required to open an account with a credit institution within 30 working days from the date of establishment. The new provisions enter into force on January 1, 2026.
iulian@romania-insider.com
(Photo source: Ungureanu Vadim/Dreamstime.com)
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