Romania’s tax agency ANAF is stepping up enforcement by giving itself the power to calculate pension and health contributions on its own for individuals who earned taxable income in 2025 but failed to declare it, a move that could widen collections and tighten compliance across self-employed workers, landlords and investors.
Romania ANAF to assess undeclared 2025 income
The new procedure matters because it shifts the burden from voluntary disclosure to administrative enforcement at a time when governments across Europe are trying to protect revenue without raising headline tax rates. For the state, the measure offers a faster route to recover social contributions due on undeclared income; for taxpayers, it raises the risk of assessments, penalties and retroactive disputes.
Under Order No. 1,457/2026, published Nov. 2 in the Official Gazette, ANAF can identify potentially non-compliant people using tax returns, payer reports and other records it already holds. Those targeted will first receive a notification and have 20 days to file the unified declaration or submit documents showing they do not owe the contributions.
The rules cover a broad set of income streams. For pension contributions, the agency can target people with income from independent activities or intellectual property rights once annual earnings reach at least 12 times the gross minimum wage. For health contributions, the scope includes rents, investments, agriculture, copyrights and other sources, subject to the thresholds in the tax code.
ANAF also created separate rules for certain salary-like income from abroad and for foreign pensions, with the latter applying to income starting in August 2025. That broadens the reach of the regime beyond local freelancers and into cross-border earners, a group that has become increasingly important as remote work and foreign payouts grow.
The agency said it will estimate the contribution base using identified income and 2025 tax thresholds, including 12- or 24-minimum-wage bases for social insurance and 6-, 12- or 24-minimum-wage thresholds for health contributions, depending on the income type. A decision can be cancelled if the taxpayer files the required declaration within 60 days of notification, or if ANAF later determines no contribution was due.
For investors and businesses, the immediate impact is on compliance costs and the predictability of cash flows for people who rely on freelance, rental or capital income. It also signals a tougher collection stance from ANAF at a time when tax enforcement is under scrutiny and authorities are trying to shore up budget revenue without broadening the formal tax base through new legislation.
The key question now is how aggressively ANAF applies the procedure and how quickly taxpayers respond. If enforcement is sustained, the measure could improve collections and reduce the stock of undeclared social contributions; if not, it may simply add another layer of administrative risk for private income earners.
| Entity | Gains | Losses |
|---|---|---|
| ANAF | ▲Higher collection power | ▼More workload and disputes |
| Romanian state | ▲Better revenue recovery | ▼Less room for non-compliance |
| Freelancers, landlords, investors | ▲Chance to regularize records | ▼Risk of ex officio assessments |
| Tax compliant taxpayers | ▲Leveler compliance field | ▼None directly |
