Starting a business in Romania
PFA or SRL through the ONRC - and a micro-enterprise regime that keeps shrinking, so check the thresholds before building on them.
Checked against the sources on 2026-08-30
Before anything else
Romanian founders choose between the PFA (persoană fizică autorizată - an authorised natural person) and the SRL, both registered at the trade register, the ONRC. The PFA is quicker and taxed as personal income; the SRL rides the micro-enterprise regime - a percentage tax on revenue instead of profit - which has been Romania’s draw for a decade and has been tightened almost every year since 2022.
That instability is the first fact to plan around: the micro regime’s ceiling has fallen from €1,000,000 to €500,000 to €250,000, with a further step to €100,000 legislated, and an employee requirement was added along the way. A structure chosen for the micro tax needs an exit plan for the year the rules move again.
The legal shell
PFA or SRL?
PFA
Solo services within your documented qualification.
ONRC registration, small fees; taxed at 10% on net income (real or a norm), plus health and pension contributions above thresholds tied to the minimum wage.
The activity must match your studies or certificates, and CAEN codes are limited in number.
SRL
Anything larger, or anything wanting the micro regime.
RON 1 capital minimum; registration a week or two through the ONRC.
Micro status needs at least one employee (or the founder employed), and dividends out carry their own tax (raised to 10%). The regime arithmetic changes with the calendar.
The sequence
Reserve the name and file at the ONRC
Where: portal.onrc.ro, or the county officeTakes: Days for a PFA, one-two weeks for an SRL
The filing wants the CAEN activity codes, a registered office (proof of right to use the space - a comodat loan agreement on your own home is the standard trick), and for a PFA the qualification documents.
Register with ANAF and pick the tax vehicle
The fiscal registration follows the ONRC; the choices - micro versus profit tax for an SRL, real system versus income norms for a PFA - are declared here. VAT registration is separate and compulsory at RON 300,000 of turnover.
Set up e-Factura
Romania made structured e-invoicing through the national system compulsory for B2B - invoices go through e-Factura, not merely to the customer. Accounting software that speaks it is effectively mandatory equipment.
What it costs to start
| What | Amount |
|---|---|
| ONRC registration | RON 100-250 in fees |
| SRL capital | RON 1 minimum |
| AccountantEffectively required for an SRL. | RON 200-500/month |
| Micro taxPlus dividend tax on the way out; thresholds move yearly. | 1-3% of revenue |
The words on the forms
- ONRC
- The trade register where both PFA and SRL are born.
- PFA
- The authorised natural person - qualification-bound solo work.
- CAEN
- The activity codes on every registration.
- ANAF
- The tax agency.
- Micro-întreprindere
- The revenue-taxed SRL regime with the moving ceiling.
- e-Factura
- The compulsory national e-invoicing system.
- Comodat
- The free-loan agreement that turns a flat into a registered office.
The traps
- Building a pricing model on this year’s micro thresholds.
- A PFA activity outside the documented qualification.
- Ignoring e-Factura and having invoices that legally do not exist.
- Forgetting PFA health and pension contributions kick in at multiples of the minimum wage.
Where to check this yourself
This is a map, not legal or tax advice - and an honest one about how it was drawn: the Germany guide was written by a person who walked the route; most other countries were drafted with AI against the official sources and have not yet been walked by someone who did it. Laws change. Every guide carries the date it was last checked and the sources to check it yourself - and if you have been through one of these routes, your corrections are exactly what this handbook wants.