Start your own business in Romania

Start one business in Romania is an opportunity in terms of taxation and economics but also on the quality of the qualified workforce that this country offers. In terms of taxation, the corporate tax is among the lowest in Europe, a rate of 16% for companies with a turnover of more than 500 000 €, for a turnover of less than 500 000 € : A rate of 1% (3% for companies with no employees).

2 TYPE OF STRUCTURES

The two most common legal forms in Romania are SRL and SA. There are various specificities for subsidiaries and branches.

PROCESS

Everything starts with the choice of the company name, of a registered office and the opening of one bank account in one Romanian bank for the deposit of capital. Once the capital deposited in the bank, the partners (or the shareholders) must have the statutes of their Romanian company (SA or SARL) filed with the trade register (ONRC). Then the tax registration and registration with the Labor Inspectorate if the hiring of employees is planned.

The registered capital of a Romanian Limited Company (SA) is at least RON 90,000 (approximately  21,000 €) and can be released up to 30% at the time of incorporation provided that the remaining 70% of the 12 month following the registration in the commercial register.

The share capital of a Romanian Limited Liability Company (SRL) is only 200 RON (approximately 45 €).

The SRL has a great success in Romania, even individual workers prefer this status. With regard to SA, there are some additional constraints:

• The Société Anonyme (SA) imposes the appointment of 3 auditors (and 1 substitute) whereas the Romanian SRL does not in principle require the presence of an auditor.
• The Société Anonyme (SA) assumes the presence of at least two shareholders whereas an SRL can in principle be formed by a single partner.

THE TAX REGIME OF THE ROMANIAN COMPANIES

Romanian companies that generate less than € 500,000 in annual turnover and less than 20% of their business in the consulting business are not taxable on corporate income tax but instead pay a tax on micro- companies up to:

•  3% of their income if they do not employ any employees;
• 1% of their income if they employ at least 1 employee;

On the other hand, if the turnover is higher than 500.000 EUR or if more than 20% of the income comes from the activities of council and management, these companies no longer pay the tax on the income of micro-enterprises but an equal tax at 16% of their profit (note that the IS is to pay by advance each quarter).

VAT

The VAT registration of Romanian companies is compulsory for all companies with an annual turnover of more than 49.000 € but if you want to sell outside Romania, you will need to register from the start to obtain one Romanian number of intra-community VAT.

ACCOMPANYING IN YOUR STEPS