Draft law for the amendment of Law no. 227/2015 regarding the Fiscal Code

On August 14, 2025, the Ministry of Finance published a draft law for the envisaged amendment of certain legislative acts, inter-alia, of the Fiscal Code.

In the following we have included a selection of the main changes envisaged to be brough to the Fiscal Code that, if published, will entry into force starting with 1 January 2026.

Corporate income tax

Article 18¹ providing for the minimum tax on turnover (introduced as of 1 January 2024 for taxpayers with a turnover in the previous year of at least EUR 50 million) is repealed.

A new article 251 is introduced regarding the Special Regime for taxpayers that record expenses with affiliated entities:

• Taxpayers that record, in relation to affiliated entities, expenses related to intellectual property rights, management expenses, consultancy and interest expenses, as they are presented in the official accounting reports prepared for the financial year 2024 / the financial year different from the calendar year starting in 2024, whose share in the total expenses of the same nature recorded with affiliated and non-affiliated entities, from the   same  accounting  reports,  is  over 3%, consider these expenses non-deductible.
• Starting with the fiscal year 2027 / the modified fiscal year starting in 2027, the 3% ratio provided above is determined based on the expenses presented in the accounting reports of the penultimate financial year by reference to the tax year of computation.
• In the case of a tax group, the provisions mentioned above are applied accordingly by the members, depending on the individual situation.
• In the case of credit institutions (Romanian legal entities and branches in Romania of foreign credit institutions), interest expenses recorded in relation to their affiliated entities are not taken into account.
• For the purposes of the above legislative provisions, affiliated entities are those defined according to the applicable accounting regulations.

Considering the above, we recommend companies to conduct a detailed analysis of the structure and nature of transactions with related parties and the impact of the proposed new regulations. We believe it is essential to continue adhering to the transfer pricing regulations, as well as to evaluate the opportunity to enter into Advance Pricing Agreements, that can bring significant benefits in managing tax risks.

Personal income tax

In the area of income tax and social contributions, among the most important proposed amendments, we mention:

• New income included in the definition of income from independent activities
  • The draft law proposes to include in the income from independent activities, those obtained from providing accommodation services, as well as from short-term rentals of more than 7 rooms located in privately owned properties/residences.
  • Thus, the income obtained from providing accommodation services is defined as that obtained by economic operators defined according to the specific legislation in the tourism sector – taxpayers according to Title IV, by making available a space arranged for overnight stays for a determined period, measured in days.
  • The method for determining the annual net income from providing accommodation services is provided, by deducting from the gross income the expenses determined by applying a deductible expense quota of 30% on the gross income. The annual income tax will be determined by applying a rate of 10% on the annual net income and will be established by submitting the Single (annual) tax return by the taxpayer.
  • For determining the net income from providing  accommodation services, the taxpayers only complete the part related to income from the Tax Record Register and are not required to keep accounting records.
• A new method for establishing the minimum level of income norms for income from independent activities
  • The proposal aims to establish the minimum level of income norms by reference to the level of 12 national minimum gross salaries guaranteed for payment in force on January 1 of the year in which the income is derived, instead of the national minimum gross salary guaranteed for payment in force at the time of establishing the norm, multiplied by 12.
• Amendments regarding rental income
  • The proposal aims to add the terminology "from personal patrimony" to define rental income (as already provided by the Methodological Application Norms).
  • The notion of "rental for tourism purposes" is proposed to be eliminated and replaced with "short-term rental."
  • Thus, rental income also includes income obtained by the owner, usufructuary, or other legal holder from short-term rental of between 1 and 7 rooms inclusively, located in privately owned properties/residences, regardless of the number of properties/residences in which they are located, during a fiscal year. Thus, it is proposed to increase the number of rooms from a maximum of 5 to a maximum of 7 for still qualifying this income in the category of rental income.
  • Short-term rental by owners, usufructuaries, or other legal holders, of rooms located in privately owned properties/residences represents the uninterrupted rental of a room to the same person for periods of up to 30 days in a calendar year. Thus, the draft law proposes to eliminate the minimum rental period of 24 hours for classification in this category, and if the rental is for a fraction of a day, it is considered to be realized for one day.
  • A new method for determining the annual net income from short-term rental of rooms located in  privately owned properties/residences is proposed, namely by deducting from the gross income the expenses determined by applying a  deductible expense quota of 30% on the gross income, eliminating, in these cases, taxation based on the annual income norm. Thus, the annual income tax will be determined by applying a rate of 10% on the annual net income and will be established by submitting the Single (annual) tax return by the taxpayer.
  • For determining the net income from short-term rental of rooms located in privately owned properties/residences, taxpayers only complete the part related to income from the Tax Record Register and are not required to keep accounting records. Additionally, the explanatory memorandum indicates that individuals obtaining such income will be required to use electronic fiscal cash registers and issue fiscal receipts with these devices, which must be handed to clients, under the specific legislation.
  • The mechanism for taxing income obtained from renting out more than 7 rooms (increased threshold from 5 to 7 rooms) is also proposed. Thus, starting from the fiscal year in which the number of rooms rented out short-term, located in  privately owned properties/residences , exceeds 7 rooms, the income derived represents income from independent activities and will be subject to taxation according to the new rules proposed for independent activities (applicable to income derived from providing accommodation services), as mentioned above.
• New income tax rates for income in the form of gains from the transfer of securities and from operations with derivative financial instruments, for transfers/operations carried out through Romanian intermediaries
  • The proposal aims to increase, with one percent point, the income tax rates for capital gains from the transfer of securities as well as from operations with derivative financial instruments, for transfers/operations carried out through Romanian intermediaries, as provided by tax legislation, as follows:
    • For capital gains from the transfer of securities that have been acquired and disposed of within a period longer than 365 days, inclusively, from the date of acquisition, as well as for the capital gains from operations with derivative financial instruments held for a period longer than 365 days, inclusively, from the date of acquisition, the income tax rate increases from 1% to 2%.
    • In the case of capital gains from the transfer of securities that have been acquired and disposed of within a period shorter than 365 days from the date of acquisition, as well as in the case of the capital gains from operations with derivative financial instruments held for a period shorter than 365 days from the date of acquisition, the income tax rate increases from 3% to 4%.
• Increase in the maximum annual calculation base for establishing the health insurance contribution in the case of income from independent activities
  • The proposal aims to increase the maximum annual calculation base for establishing the health insurance contribution in the case of income from independent activities, from the level of 60 national minimum gross salaries to the one of 90 national minimum gross salaries.
• Transitional provisions for certain income obtained in the year 2025
  • For income from independent activities obtained in 2025 from rental for tourism purposes, for which the net income was determined in the real system or based on income norms, the tax obligations are those in force in the year in which the income was derived. The carried-forward loss which was not offset, as well as the tax loss recorded in the fiscal year 2025 represents a final loss for the taxpayer.
  • For rental income obtained in the year 2025, from the rental, for tourism purposes, by owners of rooms located in  privately owned properties/residences, other than those constituting tourist reception structures, according to specific legislation, for which the determination of net income was based on income norms, as well as in cases where the determination of net income was carried out in the real system, according to the provisions of Chapter II - Income from independent activities,  the tax obligations are those in force in the year in which the income was derived. The tax loss recorded in the fiscal year 2025 represents a final loss for the taxpayer.
  • For income from independent activities derived in the fiscal year 2025, the tax obligations regarding the health insurance contribution are those in force at the date the income was derived.

According to the draft law, the amendments would come into force, mainly, starting with the income related to the year 2026, and in the case of capital gains from the transfer of securities and from operations with derivative financial instruments, through Romanian intermediaries, starting with transfers/operations carried out from  January 1^st 2026.

For more information regarding the above, the EY team is at your disposal.