The 2026 rules, last reviewed 2026-10-26. Every change to a rule, or to the maths, behind a figure this site has published, newest first. Figures are net take-home a year, before and after the change, recorded when it went live.
The 2027 rules have not been checked yet. They will be listed here when they are.
The company pays the mandatory employee’s whole payroll, and a founder who fills the role gets the net salary back as salary, outside the dividend; the site had left that salary in the dividend and taxed it again. Health contributions on dividends are a fixed amount by band of net dividends (Codul fiscal art. 170), not 10% capped. The payroll now follows calendar 2026 (4,050 RON to June, 4,325 RON from July). And because the micro regime is optional, the row uses whichever leaves more: the micro-SRL or a standard 16% profit-tax SRL, which is also the only option above €100,000 of turnover.
| Before | After | Change | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Net on €15,000 | €8,080 | €10,295 | +€2,215 |
| Net on €30,000 | €19,797 | €21,845 | +€2,048 |
| Net on €100,000 | €78,009 | €79,133 | +€1,124 |
| Net on €150,000 (profit-tax SRL; the micro row had been ranked) | €119,589 | €103,992 | −€15,597 |
Below about €14,300 a year, the monthly personal deduction (Codul fiscal art. 77) now comes off the income-tax base: 20% of the minimum wage at or below it, less 0.5 points for every 50 RON above.
| Before | After | Change | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Net on €8,000 | €4,680 | €4,871 | +€191 |
| Net on €10,000 | €5,850 | €6,020 | +€170 |
| Net on €12,000 | €7,020 | €7,106 | +€86 |
Below 6 minimum wages (about €4,621) the health contribution is still owed on 6 minimum wages, and that top-up is not deductible (Codul fiscal art. 174(6), 118(2)(b)). Thresholds and caps are now converted from lei exactly instead of rounded to whole euros.
| Before | After | Change | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Net on €4,000 | €3,240 | €3,178 | −€62 |
| Net on €15,000 | €10,070 | €10,070 | ±€0 |
| Net on €100,000 | €80,851 | €80,850 | −€1 |
Contributions are now worked out month by month between the 2026 minimum and maximum insurable income — the maximum €2,111.64 a month to July and €2,300 from August, the self-insured minimum €550.66 then €620.20 — instead of one annual cap and no minimum. A low-earning freelancer still pays on the minimum.
| Before | After | Change | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Freelancer, net on €8,000 | €5,899 | €5,660 | −€239 |
| Freelancer, net on €34,500 | €25,439 | €25,517 | +€78 |
| Employee, net on €26,000 | €20,175 | €20,223 | +€48 |
| Employee, net on €27,000 | €21,041 | €21,072 | +€31 |
The sole-trader row now includes the 2% funded pension that residents born in 1983 or later pay by default (Funded Pensions Act §6-7), on the social-tax base and deductible from income tax — the same default the employee row already used.
| Before | After | Change | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Net on €15,000 | €10,645 | €10,469 | −€176 |
| Net on €50,000 | €31,171 | €30,585 | −€586 |
| Net on €100,000 | €60,495 | €59,322 | −€1,173 |
Below about €15,900, IRS is now reduced so the net does not fall under €12,880 a year (CIRS art. 70). For freelancers in the simplified regime, the social security above 10% of fees is now deducted (art. 31(2)), the part of 15% of fees not justified by expenses is added back (art. 31(13)), and the row is no longer ranked above €200,000, where that regime ends (art. 28).
| Before | After | Change | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Employee, net on €8,000 | €6,693 | €7,120 | +€427 |
| Employee, net on €12,880 (the minimum wage) | €10,427 | €11,213 | +€786 |
| Freelancer, net on €8,000 | €6,052 | €6,802 | +€750 |
| Freelancer, net on €30,000 | €21,560 | €21,920 | +€360 |
| Freelancer, net on €150,000 | €90,023 | €87,019 | −€3,004 |
A resident may opt to add dividends to taxable income instead of paying the 28% final rate; only 50% of dividends from a Portuguese company is then taxed (CIRS art. 71(9)-(10), 40-A). For a founder with no other income that leaves more at every income, so the row now uses it.
| Before | After | Change | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Net on €30,000 | €18,360 | €23,756 | +€5,396 |
| Net on €100,000 | €59,760 | €72,726 | +€12,966 |
| Net on €250,000 | €147,240 | €166,251 | +€19,011 |
Since 6 April 2026 the self-employed pay a 0.5% Human Resource Development levy (Law 15(I)/2026), and the deduction of social insurance and GHS from taxable income is capped at one fifth of income (Income Tax Law art. 14(2)).
| Before | After | Change | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Net on €30,000 | €23,456 | €23,308 | −€148 |
| Net on €60,000 | €41,448 | €41,115 | −€333 |
| Net on €100,000 | €66,665 | €66,407 | −€258 |
Price levels now come from Eurostat’s 2025 indices for actual individual consumption, in the new COICOP 2018 series (prc_ppp_ind_1); the old series stopped at 2024. Bulgaria 56.9 → 60.0, Romania 57.4 → 58.9, Portugal 85.0 → 85.3, Estonia 96.5 → 97.8, Cyprus 95.1 → 91.6 (EU = 100).
| Before | After | Change | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bulgaria, employee on €100,000: worth at EU-average prices | €152,444 | €144,568 | −€7,876 |
| Cyprus, employee on €100,000: worth at EU-average prices | €74,696 | €77,550 | +€2,854 |
The comparison pages now list every income at which a pair swaps places, not only the first (Romania and Estonia’s freelancers swap three times), and stop at a regime’s legal ceiling. On the calculator, “at other incomes” now names where first place changes, not only where the runner-up overtakes. No figure changed.
When the ranking flips below the income you entered, the sentence now gives each side its own rounding: "Below €19,000, Portugal keeps more than Bulgaria; from €20,000 up, Bulgaria does." The old form, "Portugal only keeps more than Bulgaria below €19,000", was false between €19,000 and the real crossing at €19,715. No figure changed.
Social tax is 33% of business income divided by 1.33, because the social tax itself is deductible, between the 2026 minimum of €3,508.56 and maximum of €36,867.60 a year (Estonian Tax and Customs Board). The site had charged 33% of the whole income, with no maximum.
| Before | After | Change | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Net on €30,000 | €17,526 | €19,442 | +€1,916 |
| Net on €50,000 | €27,978 | €31,171 | +€3,193 |
| Net on €100,000 | €54,108 | €60,495 | +€6,387 |
The 10% health contribution (CASS) is now deducted before income tax, and the 25% pension contribution (CAS) is charged on 12 or 24 gross minimum wages depending on income, and not at all below 12, instead of a flat amount at every income (Codul fiscal).
| Before | After | Change | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Net on €15,000 | €7,841 | €10,070 | +€2,229 |
| Net on €30,000 | €19,841 | €20,141 | +€300 |
| Net on €100,000 | €80,296 | €80,851 | +€555 |
The specific deduction for employment income is the larger of the employee’s social security and €4,587.09 (8.54 × IAS 2026; Código do IRS, art. 25). It only matters below about €41,700 a year, where social security is the smaller of the two.
| Before | After | Change | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Net on €20,000 | €14,986 | €15,492 | +€506 |
| Net on €30,000 | €21,489 | €21,889 | +€400 |
Income tax now deducts the social and health contributions actually owed, not the annual maximum. That only matters below about €35,000 a year, where the contributions are under the maximum.
| Before | After | Change | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Net on €20,000 | €15,061 | €14,747 | −€314 |
A Romanian micro-company needs at least one employee. Founder rows now count that cost by default (the founder fills the role on the minimum wage), the basis the comparison pages and clips already used. You can switch it to someone else filling the role, or enter your own figure.
| Before | After | Change | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Romania, founder, net on €100,000 | €81,311 | €78,009 | −€3,302 |
The green “verified” chip on each row was withdrawn: no licensed tax adviser has reviewed these rules. Each row now says which year’s rules it uses, and turns amber once that year is over.
Live on keepvista.com with 2026 rules for Romania, Bulgaria, Portugal, Estonia and Cyprus, for employees, freelancers and founders.