Romania: a 10% flat tax and ultra-fast internet for freelancers

Article 64 of the Romanian Fiscal Code sets the income tax rate at 10%¹. There is no progressive scale: the same rate applies to the first leu earned and to the last.

It is the lowest rate in the European Union, on a par with Bulgaria's, and it is part of the ordinary tax system. It is not a special regime reserved for newcomers.

This difference in nature is decisive. A preferential regime can be closed to new entrants overnight, as Portugal has shown; a rate that applies to the whole population can only be changed through a politically costly reform.

Corporate profit tax is set by Article 17 at 16%², and tax residency is acquired in particular after more than 183 days³ of presence over twelve months.

A freelancer does not pay the personal rate: they receive profit distributed by their company. What matters to them is therefore the regime that applies to that company.

The so-called micro-enterprise regime replaces profit tax with a levy on revenue, at a rate of 1%⁴ or 1%⁵ depending on the company's situation.

Its logic needs to be understood: the levy is charged on turnover, not on profit. A consultancy with no expenses benefits greatly; a low-margin business is penalised.

The turnover thresholds giving access to this regime, and the conditions distinguishing the two rates, have been amended several times. We do not give figures for them: they must be checked, as at the date of the project, with the National Agency for Fiscal Administration.

Nor do we publish Romanian social contribution rates or the dividend tax rate: they do not appear in our verified extracts, even though they weigh heavily on the actual return of the arrangement.

These two gaps are decisive: a structure calibrated on the 1%⁴ rate loses most of its appeal once the director's remuneration and the distribution of profits are taken into account.

Romania is a member of the European Union and of the Schengen Area. A French national can settle there freely, with a simple registration with the General Inspectorate for Immigration after three months.

Romania's digital infrastructure is excellent and is a constant argument among remote workers based in the country. Flights to France are frequent and inexpensive from Bucharest, Cluj and Timisoara.

The currency is the leu, not the euro. Income received in euros benefits from an exchange rate differential, but is also exposed to it — a notable difference from Bulgaria, whose currency is pegged to the euro through a currency board.

The cost of living remains among the lowest in the Union, even though the gap has narrowed in the large cities, where tech sector salaries have pushed prices up.

1. Settle without a visa, then apply for the registration certificate after three months.
2. Choose the form of business taking into account social contributions and dividend taxation, not just the headline rate.
3. Check the micro-enterprise regime thresholds as at the date of the project.
4. Compare the levy on turnover with the business's actual margin.
5. Handle the departure from France under its own criteria and under the France–Romania tax treaty.

What you give up in Romania lies elsewhere: a slow administration, a failing public health system, and legislative instability in tax matters that means the rules have to be rechecked every financial year rather than taken for granted. The personal rate, for its part, is the most stable parameter of the arrangement — and the least decisive for a freelancer.