Romania micro company tax 1% in 2026: conditions, cap and dividends

Updated 14 September 2026 · 7 min read · The Start4 team

Romania micro company tax 1% means a single 1% tax on turnover, a cap of €100,000 a year and at least one full-time employee. It is the simplest way to tax a company in Romania and one of the lowest rates in the EU, but from 1 January 2026 fewer companies qualify and dividends cost more. Here are the rules, the real calculations and the moment you leave the regime.

What changed on 1 January 2026

Three things. The turnover cap dropped from €250,000 to €100,000 a year. The 3% rate is gone: from 2026 there is a single rate, 1% of turnover, whatever the activity. And dividend tax rose from 10% to 16%.

The changes come from the end-of-2025 omnibus ordinance and apply from the first quarter of the year. The cap is checked in lei, at the National Bank of Romania rate on 31 December of the previous year: at an indicative rate of 5 lei to the euro, that is roughly 500,000 lei of turnover a year.

In practice the micro regime remains the home of small service, trading and consulting companies. Anyone invoicing more than €100,000 a year moves to 16% corporate tax on profit and organises the books differently: deductible costs start to matter. If you are starting from scratch, our guide to opening a company in Romania covers everything that comes before the tax question.

The conditions for staying micro in 2026

There are three, and all must hold at the same time:

• turnover below €100,000 in the previous year, checked at the central bank rate on 31 December;
• at least one full-time employee, or a director on a mandate contract paid at least the minimum wage;
• share capital held by individuals, not by other companies.

A new company enters the micro regime from incorporation if it hires within the legal deadline and meets the other conditions. A microenterprise without an employee no longer exists from 2026: if your only employee leaves, you have 30 days to replace them, otherwise you move to corporate tax on profit.

If you have not settled on the legal form yet, read our guide on the PFA or SRL choice: a PFA pays 10% income tax plus social contributions in bands, while the micro regime exists only for an SRL.

The mandatory employee: what it costs and why it still pays

The cost of the employee belongs in the tax calculation. One full-time employee on the minimum wage means net salary, contributions withheld and contributions owed by the company, paid every month whether you invoiced or not. It is, in effect, the fixed fee of the micro regime.

The employee can be you, as a director on a mandate contract paid at least the minimum wage: the money leaves the company but lands in your account, with health cover and pension contributions. For a sole shareholder who actually works in the business, this is the usual set-up.

Why it still pays: at a normal profit, the gap between 1% of turnover and 16% of profit often covers the cost of the employee. The exact contribution figures move with the minimum wage, so work them out with your accountant on your own numbers, not from a table found online.

The calculation: 1% of turnover or 16% of profit

The rule: 1% of turnover equals 16% of profit when profit is 6.25% of turnover. Below that margin, corporate tax on profit is cheaper; above it, micro wins. Since most service companies run margins well above 6.25%, micro is usually the better deal.

The examples are in euro, at an indicative 5 lei to the euro, and profit means what is left after every cost, employee included. The middle case, low-margin trading, shows why micro is not automatically best: at a 5% margin, 16% of profit costs less than 1% of turnover.

The micro regime applies when you meet the conditions; you do not freely pick it each year. You can, however, opt for corporate tax on profit, and that decision is worth taking with your accountant and your company's real budget in front of you.

Dividends: 16% from 2026, and what ends up in your pocket

The company's tax is not the last one. To take money out of the SRL you distribute it as dividends, and from 1 January 2026 dividends are taxed at 16%, up from 10% until 2025. So there are two steps: 1% at company level, then 16% on whatever you distribute.

Example: turnover €60,000, costs €20,000 (employee included). Micro tax: 1% of €60,000 = €600. Net profit: 60,000 − 20,000 − 600 = €39,400. Dividend tax: 16% of €39,400 = €6,304. You keep €33,096. The total tax, €6,904, is about 11.5% of turnover and 17.3% of the €40,000 gross profit.

On top of dividend tax, Romania's health contribution can also be due on dividends received by a resident individual, depending on the year's thresholds: one more reason to run the numbers with your accountant before distributing.

When you leave the micro regime

You leave in the quarter in which you exceed the €100,000 cap. From that quarter to the end of the year the company pays 16% corporate tax on profit; earlier quarters stay taxed at 1% and are not recalculated.

The same switch happens if you are without an employee for more than 30 days, or if a corporate shareholder enters the share capital. The exit holds for the current year; returning to micro is assessed from the following year, if you meet the conditions again.

In practice: track turnover quarter by quarter, especially towards year end. If you are at €98,000 in November, one large invoice issued in December changes the regime for the last quarter; talk to your accountant before, not after.

VAT: 21%, 11% and the 395,000 lei threshold

Romanian VAT, the TVA, is separate from turnover tax. The standard rate is 21% and the reduced rate 11%, both since 1 August 2025. Registration becomes mandatory when you pass 395,000 lei of turnover; below that you can stay outside the VAT system or register by option.

At an indicative 5 lei to the euro, 395,000 lei is roughly €79,000: a microenterprise approaching €100,000 is almost certainly a VAT payer too. The two thresholds do not line up and you track them separately.

If you work with clients in other EU countries you need an intra-community VAT number even if you are not a VAT payer in Romania: without it, invoices to Italian or German companies cannot be issued correctly. We request it from the tax authority as part of the Business package.

If you live abroad: the company pays in Romania, you pay where you are resident

The company pays in Romania; you pay where you are tax resident. Your SRL pays 1% of turnover (or 16% of profit) to the Romanian treasury wherever you live. Dividends, however, are your personal income, and the country where you are tax resident taxes them under its own rules.

Without moving your tax residence, a shareholder living in Italy or Germany declares the Romanian dividends at home, and the 16% paid in Romania is normally credited under the double taxation treaty. The outcome depends on your country's dividend rate, not on Romania.

Practical rule: 1% is the company's tax, not yours. Opening a Romanian company to pay less tax only works if you know what happens to the dividends in your own tax return: before incorporating, speak to a tax adviser in your country of residence. We open the company; where you pay as an individual is a decision you should take informed.

What to choose at incorporation with Start4

The tax regime is set at incorporation, and we include it in the Business package at €699: the choice between micro and corporate tax on profit, VAT registration, e-Factura and a 30-minute call with the accountant before filing. The Start package costs €399, Premium €999.

Filing is done by a lawyer under power of attorney, in 3–7 working days, without you coming to Romania. The steps are on the open an SRL in Romania page, and the full costs in our guide to the cost of opening a company in Romania.

After registration, monthly bookkeeping starts at €99 a month, with plans at €149 and €249 depending on volume, staff and VAT. The accountant tracks the €100,000 cap, the mandatory employee and the quarter in which you might leave micro. Everything else is in the FAQ.

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