New regulations on the Annual Tax Return, social contributions and private pensions

Procedure for the pre-completion, verification and submission of the annual tax return

On 5 January 2026, Order No. 2.719/2025 issued by the President of the National Agency for Fiscal Administration (NAFA) approving the Procedure for the pre-completion, verification and submission of Form 212 – “Annual Tax Return for the income tax and social charges due by the individuals” was published in the Official Gazette No. 1.

The procedure regulates the following aspects:

• Identifying the data sources used to extract information on earned income, income tax due, and the amount of social charges withheld at source or for which taxpayers exercised their payment option;
• Providing the data needed for the automatic pre-completion of the annual tax return;
• Verification of the pre‑completed data by taxpayers and submission of the annual tax return.

The data sources used by NAFA for extracting pre‑completed information may include:

• Tax returns submitted by income payers (Forms 205 and 112) and by taxpayers/associations (Forms 212 and 204);
• The official register of lease agreements, based on applications for the registration of rental contracts;
• The taxpayers’ register;
• Information obtained from authorities or entities that maintain records regarding individuals’ retirement status;
• Information regarding annual income norms.

The data relating to income categories and the identified information sources will be made available to taxpayers by NAFA no later than 31 March 2026, either electronically via the Virtual Private Space (VPS), or in paper format at the competent tax office, upon request, for taxpayers who are not enrolled in VPS.

The tax authority will provide pre‑completion data in the application to individuals who, for the relevant reporting year, meet the following conditions: have earned income for which they are required to assess and declare income tax and/or have earned income for which social security contributions and/or health insurance contributions are due under the law.

Individuals for whom data is made available in the pre-completion application must verify the data and submit the completed tax return in accordance with their personal tax situation by 25 May, inclusive, of the year following the reporting year.

Where individuals have already fulfilled their reporting obligations prior to the availability of data in the pre-completion application, any corrections to previously declared information must be made by filing an amended tax return.

Individuals for whom no data have been made available via the pre-completion application are not exempt from the obligation to file the annual tax return, where such obligation arises under the provisions of the Fiscal Code.

Payment of private pensions

On 5 January 2026, Law No. 2/2026 on the payment of private pensions was published in the Official Gazette No. 2. The law enters into force on 5 January 2027 and introduces specific rules regarding the withdrawal of assets accumulated within the private pension system.

Under the law, payments of private pensions will be made through two types of payment funds:

• programmed withdrawal pension payment funds, under which pensions are paid over a fixed period of at least 8 years, with the pension amount equal to the level of the social allowance established under the public pension system. Where the value of the individual account balance, correlated with the monthly pension amount, results in a payment period exceeding 8 years, the monthly pension may exceed the level of the social allowance, provided that the minimum payment period of at least 8 years is maintained.
• life annuity pension payment funds, under which pensions are paid under one of the following three options: 1) a fixed amount payable for the entire lifetime of the member; 2) a fixed amount until the member’s death, and thereafter to the designated survivor , at a level established as a percentage of the member’s private pension; 3) a fixed amount for a guaranteed period until the member’s death, and where the member dies before the end of the period, payable to the designated beneficiary.

All types of life annuities are determined based on an actuarial calculation, taking into account the value of the member’s available assets and the annuity rate corresponding to the selected type of pension.

The law also introduces the possibility of granting, on a one‑off basis, an advance payment of up to 30% of the value of the individual assets transferred to the payment fund, before the start of monthly pension payments.

Procedure for the ex officio assessment of social security and health insurance contributions due by individuals

On 14 January 2026, Order No. 2.735/2025 issued by the President of the National Agency for Fiscal Administration (NAFA) approving the Procedure applicable to individuals who have not fulfilled their obligation to report the social security contributions and the health insurance contributions for tax year 2024 was published in the Official Gazette No. 2.

The ex officio assessment procedure for social security contribution for individuals who obtain income from independent activities and/or income from intellectual property rights applies to individuals meeting the following cumulative conditions:

• obtained income from independent activities and/or income from intellectual property rights for which social security contribution is due;
• estimated for the fiscal year a cumulative annual net income below the threshold of 12 gross minimum wages, while the cumulative annual net income actually earned is at least equal to 12 gross minimum wages in force at the date of filing the estimated annual tax return;
• did not report social security contribution due for the relevant tax year.

The ex officio assessment procedure for social security contribution and/or health insurance contribution for individuals who obtain income assimilated to salary income for activities performed abroad applies to individuals meeting the following cumulative conditions:

• earned income assimilated to salaries from activities performed abroad;
• did not report social security contribution and/or  health insurance contribution due for the relevant tax year.

The ex officio assessment procedure for health insurance contribution for individuals who have earned income under Article 155(1) (b) of the Fiscal Code applies to individuals meeting the following cumulative conditions:

• obtained the annual net income/gross income or the annual income norm/adjusted annual income norm from independent activities;
• did not report health insurance contribution due for the relevant tax year.

The ex officio assessment procedure for health insurance contribution for individuals who have earned income under Article 155(1) (c)–(h) of the Fiscal Code applies to individuals meeting the following cumulative conditions:

A. earned income from intellectual property rights; income from association with a legal entity taxable under Title II or Title III of the Fiscal Code, for which the provisions of Article 125 apply; income from leasing of assets; income from agricultural, forestry or fishery activities; investment income, as well as income from other sources;

B. estimated for the fiscal year a cumulative annual net/gross income from the above‑mentioned categories, below 6 gross minimum wages, while the income actually earned is at least equal to 6 gross minimum wages in force at the filing deadline of the estimated annual tax return;

C. did not report health insurance contribution due for the relevant tax year.

Taxpayers may be identified based on the following information sources: Forms 256, 112, 212 and 205, exchanges of information between ANAF and foreign tax authorities, the relevant section of Chapter I of the annual tax return, as well as other information available in the tax records, as applicable.

If, within 60 days from the communication of the ex officio social security contribution and health insurance contribution assessment decision, the taxpayer fulfils the reporting obligations by filing the tax return, the decision is cancelled. In this case, NAFA issues a cancellation decision.

The Order also approves the template and content of the forms used within this procedure, as detailed in its annexes, including: the notification of non‑reporting of social security contribution and health insurance contribution, the report regarding the estimation of the contribution assessment base, the decision on the ex officio assessment of the contributions, and the decision cancelling the ex officio assessment.

The EY team is available for further details regarding the above.