Personal deduction guide: the percentage system in art. 77 of the Fiscal Code, the 20–45% grid by dependants, the cancellation threshold and the main-job declaration.
Translated from Romanian. This article covers Romanian labour and tax law; the Romanian version is canonical and is updated first.
The personal deduction reduces the tax paid by the employee — but few people know how it is actually calculated, and the “600 lei” figure still doing the rounds has been out of date for years. Here is the real mechanism, with the 2026 grid and thresholds.
The personal deduction is not subtracted from the gross salary. It is subtracted from the taxable base, that is, from the amount the 10% income tax applies to.
The correct order of calculation:
The effect: a larger deduction means lower tax, so a higher net. It does not raise your gross salary — it raises what is left in your hand.
The old fixed deduction was replaced by a percentage system, in the form given by OG 16/2022. The basic rules:
At the level of the minimum wage, the starting percentages are:
| Dependants | Percentage of the minimum wage |
|---|---|
| none | 20% |
| 1 person | 25% |
| 2 people | 30% |
| 3 people | 35% |
| 4 or more | 45% |
Note the jump from 3 to 4+ dependants: 10 percentage points, not 5 as between the other steps. This is the detail most often got wrong in manual implementations, which stop at “3+”.
At the other end of the grid — gross income at the level of the minimum wage + 2,000 lei — the percentages come down to 0% / 5% / 10% / 15% / 25%. Above that threshold, the deduction is no longer granted at all.
For the first half of 2026, with a minimum wage of 4,050 lei:
The difference between 810 and 1,822.50 lei of deduction means, at a 10% tax rate, roughly 101 lei more net per month. It is not spectacular, but it is real money the employee loses if the declaration is not filed.
As a rule: the spouse, the children and other family members supported by the taxpayer, provided their own income does not exceed the threshold set by law.
Minor children are, as a rule, considered to be supported by their parents. For the others, supporting documents are required.
The employee files a declaration on their own responsibility, accompanied by documents (birth and marriage certificates, income certificates for the dependant).
An essential rule: the personal deduction is granted only at the main job, that is, at a single employer, declared by the employee.
Someone with two employment contracts receives the deduction once only. If two employers apply it at the same time, a tax error arises that has to be corrected through a regularisation — which is why the main-job declaration is not a formality.
On top of the base deduction, the Fiscal Code (Codul Fiscal) also provides a supplementary deduction for certain categories, among them:
The amounts and the conditions are related to the minimum wage and may change — check the version in force at the date of the calculation.
The fixed deduction of 600 lei belonged to an earlier system. Today:
Any calculator or article still talking about a fixed amount is using repealed rules.
How much is the personal deduction in 2026? It depends on the gross and on the dependants. At the level of the minimum wage: between 20% (no dependants) and 45% (4 or more) of the gross minimum wage. It is cancelled above the minimum wage + 2,000 lei.
Does the 600 lei deduction still exist? No. It was replaced by a percentage system that varies with income and with the family situation.
Where is it granted if I have two jobs? Only at the main job, declared by the employee through a declaration on their own responsibility.
What documents are needed for dependants? The declaration on your own responsibility plus supporting documents: birth or marriage certificates, certificates attesting the income of the dependant.
Why do I get no deduction even though I have children? Most likely because the gross income exceeds the cancellation threshold (the minimum wage + 2,000 lei), or because the declaration was not filed at the main job.
See also salary contributions in 2026, holding more than one job, and the minimum wage in 2026.
The deduction grid has 41 bands × 5 columns — exactly the kind of table nobody applies correctly by hand, especially when the minimum wage changes mid-year and shifts every threshold.
The net salary calculator on this site applies the full grid from art. 77, including the “4 or more dependants” column (45%) and the switch of the minimum wage between the two halves of the year — you can quickly check any scenario with it, at the end of the article.
The payroll module applies the grid automatically, on the payroll run. Dependants are kept in a register in the employee’s file — each with their type, date of birth and declared income — and from it follows how many are taken into account, with nobody counting by hand.
All three components are calculated and broken down on the payslip: the base deduction from the grid, the 15% supplement for employees under 26 and the 100 lei for each child in education. The deduction is granted only at the main job, and the band is chosen according to the gross income actually earned in the month, not according to the salary in the contract — so a month with a night-shift bonus can change the band, exactly as the law provides. When the minimum wage changes, the grid shifts by itself, because the parameters are versioned by fiscal period.
Informational article, accurate at the date of publication. Not tax advice. The grid and the supplementary deduction may change through legislation — check the version in force (the Fiscal Code, art. 77) or consult a specialist.
Payslip guide: the employer's duty to inform, what elements it contains, how to read it line by line, electronic delivery and confidentiality.
Guide to the payroll register: its role as a supporting document, mandatory content, signing and confidentiality, the archiving term and the link to the payslip.
Guide to salary deductions: the due, liquid and enforceable debt condition, the one-third and one-half caps, the order of priority and what an employer cannot withhold unilaterally.
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