Romania Micro-Company (SRL) 2026: What Changed & Costs

Romania's micro-company regime in 2026: what changed and whether it still works

Last updated: August 2026

Romania's micro-company regime still taxes qualifying companies at just 1% of revenue, but almost everything else about it changed on January 1, 2026: the revenue ceiling dropped from €250,000 to €100,000, the old 1%/3% two-tier system was replaced with a single flat 1% rate, and the dividend withholding tax jumped from 10% to 16%. If you're reading a guide that still cites the old numbers, it's describing a regime that no longer exists.

This is one of the fastest-moving corners of EU tax policy Atlasway tracks, and it's a genuinely confusing moment to be researching a Romanian SRL micro-enterprise. Founders already operating under the old rules need to know if they still qualify. Founders considering Romania for the first time need the current picture, not last year's.

This guide covers exactly what changed, how the 1% rate actually works once you model it against your margins, and who the regime still makes sense for.

Key Takeaways

- Romania's micro-enterprise revenue threshold dropped from €250,000 to €100,000 effective January 1, 2026; exceed it and you switch to the standard 16% corporate tax from that quarter.

- The old two-tier 1%/3% system is gone. Every qualifying micro-enterprise under the new €100,000 ceiling now pays a flat 1% on gross revenue.

- Dividend withholding tax rose from 10% to 16% in 2026, materially narrowing the gap between Romania and other low-tax EU jurisdictions for founders who actually distribute profit.

- The 1% rate applies to revenue, not profit, which means high-margin service businesses can pay more under this regime than they would under a profit-based tax elsewhere.

- The mandatory one full-time employee requirement was retained for 2026, and it's a real payroll cost, not a paperwork formality.

What changed in Romania's micro-enterprise regime for 2026

Revenue threshold cut from €250,000 to €100,000

The single biggest structural change: the revenue ceiling to qualify as a micro-enterprise dropped by more than half. Companies that comfortably qualified under the old €250,000 threshold may no longer qualify if their revenue sits between €100,000 and €250,000.

The two-tier system replaced with a flat 1% rate

Previously, micro-enterprises paid 1% on revenue up to €60,000 and 3% on the portion between €60,000 and €250,000. That tiered structure is gone. Every qualifying micro-enterprise under the new €100,000 ceiling now pays a flat 1% on all revenue, regardless of where it falls within that range.

Dividend withholding tax raised from 10% to 16%

This is the change most formation-service content underplays. The tax on dividends distributed to shareholders rose from 10% to 16% starting in 2026. For founders planning to actually live off distributed profit rather than reinvest it, this materially changes the math versus 2025.

Sector restrictions removed

Previously, certain NACE business activity codes were excluded from the micro-enterprise regime. That restriction was lifted for 2026, the regime is now open regardless of sector, provided the revenue and employee criteria are met.

Curious how this compares to other low-tax EU structures? See how Atlasway evaluates company jurisdictions →

How the 1% micro-enterprise tax actually works

It taxes revenue, not profit

This is the detail that changes everything about whether Romania's regime is actually a good deal for you. The 1% rate applies to gross revenue, not to profit after expenses. That distinction matters enormously depending on your margin structure.

Worked examples by margin profile

Consider two businesses, each with €90,000 in annual revenue, both under the €100,000 threshold:

• A low-margin trading or e-commerce business with 10% net margin (€9,000 profit) pays €900 in micro-enterprise tax (1% of €90,000), an effective rate of 10% of profit. That's a genuinely strong outcome.
• A high-margin consulting or SaaS business with 70% net margin (€63,000 profit) also pays €900 in micro-enterprise tax, but that's an effective rate of just 1.4% of profit, an extraordinary deal, at least until you factor in the mandatory employee cost and dividend tax covered below.

The lesson: Romania's 1% rate isn't inherently good or bad. It's exceptionally favorable for high-margin businesses and comparatively weak for low-margin, high-revenue businesses that are close to the €100,000 ceiling.

When Elena, a freelance brand designer from Bucharest, compared her old sole-trader setup against forming a Romanian SRL micro-enterprise in early 2026, she ran the numbers on her typical €70,000 in annual revenue against roughly €55,000 in actual profit. The 1% revenue tax came to €700, an effective 1.3% of profit. Even after factoring in the mandatory employee's minimum salary and social contributions, she came out meaningfully ahead of the standard 16% corporate tax rate she'd have paid without the micro-enterprise election.

What happens when you cross €100,000 mid-year

If your company's revenue exceeds €100,000 during the year, you don't wait until the next fiscal year to switch tax regimes. The company moves to the standard 16% corporate income tax rate starting from the quarter in which the threshold is crossed, applied to profit for that quarter and going forward, not retroactively to the full year. This mid-year transition mechanic is rarely explained clearly in formation-service content, and it's worth planning your revenue trajectory around if you're close to the ceiling.

Want help modeling your specific revenue and margin scenario? Talk to Atlasway before you commit to a structure →

Formation requirements

An SRL (societate cu răspundere limitată) is Romania's standard limited liability company structure, and it's the entity type used for the micro-enterprise election.

• Minimum share capital: a nominal amount, among the lowest in the EU, comparable to other Eastern European jurisdictions.
• Foreign ownership: 100% foreign ownership is permitted, with no requirement for a Romanian co-owner.
• Remote formation: feasible via power of attorney, though as with most EU jurisdictions, expect some documents to require notarization or apostille.

The mandatory employee requirement is a real cost

Romania requires micro-enterprises to employ at least one full-time worker to qualify for the regime. This isn't a checkbox exercise. It means payroll obligations: at minimum, the Romanian minimum wage plus mandatory social contributions (including CASS health insurance contributions), filed and paid on an ongoing basis. For a solo founder who intended to be the company's only person, this typically means either hiring yourself as that employee (with the associated payroll cost) or hiring someone else. Either way, budget for it as a genuine operating cost, not paperwork. Atlasway's guide to founder payroll options covers how this compares across jurisdictions with similar employee mandates.

The real combined tax burden, revenue tax plus dividend tax

Here's where the 2026 changes bite hardest for founders planning to actually take money out of the company.

Worked example, full distribution scenario:

A Romanian SRL micro-enterprise earns €80,000 in revenue with €50,000 in profit after expenses (including the mandatory employee cost). The company pays 1% of revenue in micro-enterprise tax: €800. That leaves the full €50,000 in accounting profit available for distribution (the revenue tax and profit tax are calculated differently in this regime, a nuance worth confirming with a Romanian accountant for your specific numbers). Distributing that profit as dividends now triggers the 16% dividend withholding tax, up from 10% before 2026, costing €8,000 rather than €5,000 under the old rate.

The combined effect: Romania's headline 1% rate looks remarkable in isolation, but once you model the mandatory employee cost and the higher 2026 dividend tax against your actual distribution plans, the gap versus other EU jurisdictions narrows considerably for founders who need regular income from the company.

Costs and timeline

Romania vs. Bulgaria vs. Estonia for micro/small businesses

Who Romania's micro-company regime is right for (and who it isn't)

Right for

• High-margin service businesses (consulting, SaaS, freelance creative work) with revenue comfortably under €100,000, where 1% of revenue is a small fraction of actual profit.
• Founders willing to carry a genuine employee as part of the cost of qualifying, whether that's themselves on payroll or a hired team member.
• Businesses planning to reinvest most profit rather than distribute it immediately, minimizing exposure to the higher 16% dividend tax.

Wrong for

• Low-margin, revenue-heavy businesses close to the €100,000 ceiling, where 1% of revenue can exceed what a profit-based tax elsewhere would cost.
• Anyone expecting to scale past €100,000 quickly, since the mid-year transition to 16% standard CIT changes your effective tax rate abruptly, not gradually.
• Solo founders unwilling to carry the cost of a mandatory full-time employee, this isn't optional under the regime.
• Founders planning to distribute most profit as dividends, given the 2026 increase to 16% withholding narrows Romania's advantage considerably.

VAT and cross-border digital services

Micro-enterprise status affects corporate income tax, but it doesn't exempt a Romanian SRL from VAT obligations. Romania's domestic VAT registration threshold is separate from the €100,000 micro-enterprise revenue ceiling, and founders selling digital services to consumers across the EU generally need to register under the One Stop Shop (OSS) scheme regardless of domestic turnover. Atlasway covers this in more depth in our guide to VAT on digital services, which applies to Romanian SaaS and e-commerce founders just as much as those in any other EU jurisdiction. Skipping this step is one of the more common mistakes founders make when they focus exclusively on the headline 1% corporate tax figure and treat the formation as fully sorted once the SRL is registered.

Banking for a Romanian micro-enterprise

Non-resident founders forming a Romanian SRL should expect a similar pattern to other EU jurisdictions with a growing non-resident formation market: opening a business bank account with a traditional Romanian bank can involve more documentation and scrutiny than the formation process itself, particularly for founders with no local address or employment history in the country. Many non-resident founders end up relying on electronic money institutions such as Wise Business for day-to-day operations, reserving a local account for compliance purposes where a Romanian bank is specifically required for payroll processing (relevant given the mandatory employee requirement covered above). Atlasway's broader guide to business banking as a non-resident walks through this pattern in more detail across several jurisdictions.

Next steps

Before forming a Romanian SRL under the micro-enterprise regime, model your actual numbers: your realistic revenue trajectory relative to the €100,000 ceiling, your margin profile (revenue tax hits high-margin businesses far more gently than low-margin ones), and how much profit you actually plan to distribute versus reinvest given the new 16% dividend tax.

If the math works in your favor, Romania remains one of the most aggressively low-tax formal EU structures available, for the right business. If you're running a low-margin operation or planning heavy distributions, it's worth comparing against Bulgaria's flat 10% profit-based rate before committing. Atlasway's guide to the real cost of an international company is a useful next read for modeling total ongoing costs across jurisdictions.

Conclusion

Romania's micro-company regime changed substantially in 2026, and the changes cut both ways. The flat 1% rate is simpler and can be extraordinarily favorable for high-margin businesses under the new €100,000 ceiling. But the dividend tax increase to 16%, the retained mandatory employee requirement, and the lower revenue threshold mean this regime rewards a specific profile of founder, not everyone who's heard the "1% tax" headline.

If Romania looks like a fit after modeling your real numbers, the next step is a conversation with a Romanian accountant who can confirm current thresholds and run your specific revenue and distribution scenario. Given how frequently this regime has changed in recent years, verify current rules before acting on anything you've read, including this guide.

Note: The information in this guide is for research and educational purposes. It does not constitute legal or tax advice. Romanian tax rules have changed multiple times in recent years, always verify current requirements with a licensed advisor before taking action.

The information in this article is for research and educational purposes only. It does not constitute legal or tax advice. Program rules, investment thresholds, and government fees change frequently — always verify current requirements with a licensed advisor before taking action.