What changes on the tax side in 2026 for payroll: contributions, the minimum wage, dividend tax, micro-company thresholds and reporting obligations.
Translated from Romanian. This article covers Romanian labour and tax law; the Romanian version is canonical and is updated first.
2026 brings a substantial package of tax changes that directly affect payroll, labour costs and a company’s reporting obligations. For an owner or an HR lead in a small or medium-sized business, the practical stake is simple: calculate the payroll register correctly, miss no deadline, and pay no avoidable fines. Below is a short overview of what matters in 2026 and what you need to do.
The figures below reflect the rules in force at the date of publication. Tax legislation changes frequently during the year, sometimes through ordinances that apply immediately — always check the current value at the official source before you run payroll.
The basic structure of salary taxation does not change in 2026 compared with the previous year. The following are withheld from the gross salary:
The employer separately owes CAM (contribuția asiguratorie pentru muncă — the work insurance contribution) of 2.25% on the payroll fund. As an order of magnitude, roughly 58% of the gross salary reaches the employee as net, the rest going to the state budgets.
At the beginning of 2026, the national gross minimum base wage guaranteed in payment (salariul de bază minim brut pe țară garantat în plată) is 4,050 lei. Through a Government Decision (Hotărâre de Guvern), the level was increased to 4,325 lei starting 1 July 2026 — a rise of 275 lei gross.
What this means for employers:
Also bear in mind that the tax-free amount facility applicable at minimum-wage level has been adjusted — check the exact value applicable in the reference month, because it was modified by ordinance during the year.
For a gross salary of 4,050 lei, with no additional personal deductions:
The figures are indicative and may differ depending on the personal deduction, on the tax-free amount facility and on any withholdings (voluntary pension, garnishments). For a precise calculation, use an up-to-date calculator.
The income tax exemptions enjoyed by employees in IT, construction and the agri-food sector were removed in the wave of tax measures that entered into force on 1 January 2025 and remain removed in 2026. In practice, employees in these fields now pay tax and contributions like any other employee.
The conclusion for 2026: do not build your salary budget on the assumption of the old sector exemptions. If you have employees in IT or construction, the tax treatment is the standard one.
One of the most relevant changes for company shareholders: the dividend tax rate rises to 16% for dividends distributed from 1 January 2026 (up from 10% previously).
One detail that matters in practice: which rate applies depends on the date of distribution (the shareholders’ meeting resolution — hotărârea AGA), not on the date of payment. Dividends distributed by a 2025 resolution but paid in 2026 follow the old rule. The tax is withheld at source and is declared and paid by the 25th of the month following the one in which the dividend was paid.
The micro-company regime tightens significantly in 2026:
Companies that exceed the cap move to corporate income tax. If you are close to the limit, check the turnover reported at 31 December of the previous year — it can change the regime from one year to the next.
The digitalisation of reporting to ANAF (the Romanian tax authority) is now in full application, and in 2026 the grace periods have expired for most categories.
Important: e-Factura and SAF-T are separate obligations — data in one system does not replace data in the other, and ANAF cross-checks them. Failure to file D406, or filing it incorrectly, is penalised with a fine.
When legislation changes overnight — a new rate, an adjusted cap, a minimum wage raised mid-year — the real challenge is not finding out what changed, but recalculating the whole payroll register correctly without missing anything. Workly’s payroll module automatically applies the updated rates and caps when computing contributions, so that the net and the employer cost reflect the rules in force, not last year’s.
For reporting, Workly generates the SAGA-format export and prepares the payroll data your accountant uses for periodic returns (including D112), reducing manual work and the risk of discrepancies between sources. And the internal assistant Modi answers questions about your own data in the application on the basis of deterministic rules, with no external LLM — so it cannot “invent” a cap or a deadline; when it has no clear answer, it points you to the source.
Informational article, accurate at the date of publication. Not tax or legal advice. Tax rules may change during the year — always verify the values and deadlines at the official source (ANAF, MMSS, Monitorul Oficial) or with an accounting specialist before making decisions.
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