You have a salary, a PFA, a rented flat and dividends from your own company. Each comes with its own rule for the health contribution, and the most common mistake is not failing to pay, but lumping everything into a single base. Since 2024 there have been two bases, and since 2026 one of them has increased.
CASS is calculated at 10%, separately for two groups of income. For independent activities (activități independente), under Article 155(b) of the Tax Code, the base is the net income actually realised, between a minimum of 6 and a maximum of 72 gross minimum wages. For income under Article 155(c) to (h), namely intellectual property rights, associations, rent, agriculture, investments and other sources, the base is set in bands of 6, 12 or 24 minimum wages, depending on their combined total.
The two groups are not added together. A person with a PFA and dividends owes CASS twice, on each base, with each cap. A salary carries its own contribution, withheld by the employer, which covers neither of the two groups. For 2026, with a minimum wage of 4,050 lei, the bands are 24,300, 48,600 and 97,200 lei, and the maximum cap for the self-employed is 291,600 lei.
Shares received from an employer through stock option or RSU plans fall into the same group at the time of sale.
For a PFA, individual enterprises (întreprinderi individuale), liberal professions and sports activity contracts, CASS is 10% of the net annual income realised, or of the flat-rate income quota (normă de venit), as the case may be. The base cannot fall below 6 minimum wages: anyone with net income under 24,300 lei owes the contribution at this level, 2,430 lei, subject to the exceptions provided by law. The base cannot exceed 72 minimum wages: above 291,600 lei of net income, CASS remains at 29,160 lei.
The maximum cap is the new feature for 2026. Until 2025 it stood at 60 minimum wages; the increase to 72 adds, for higher incomes, 12 minimum wages to the base, that is 4,860 lei of additional contribution at the maximum level. It is not a change in rate, but in cap, and it hits precisely the professionals with net income above 240,000 lei.
The exceptions to the minimum base concern only this group: employees, persons with a tax loss or zero net income in the previous year, and those starting an activity during the year, under the conditions provided by law. An employee with a PFA does not owe the minimum of 6 wages, but does owe 10% on real net income, up to the cap of 72.
Alongside CASS, independent activities also owe the state pension contribution, CAS, of 25%, if annual net income reaches 12 minimum wages, on a chosen base of at least 12 wages, or at least 24 if income exceeds 24 wages. For 2026: 12,150 lei or 24,300 lei a year. CAS is not owed on income from the second group.
Net income from intellectual property rights, from association with a legal person, from the use of property (cedarea folosinței bunurilor), from agricultural, forestry and fishery activities, from investments, including dividends, interest and gains on the transfer of securities, and from other sources. All of it, together, in a single annual amount.
The net value: rent after the flat-rate expense deduction, dividends after withholding the 16% tax, interest after tax, the net gain from investments. Not the gross amount received.
Below 24,300 lei, nothing. Between 24,300 and 48,600 lei, CASS on the base of 6 wages: 2,430 lei. Between 48,600 and 97,200 lei, on the base of 12: 4,860 lei. Above 97,200 lei, on the base of 24: 9,720 lei, the maximum cap for this group. The contribution is paid on the band reached, not on the actual income.
Salaries, which have their own contribution. Independent activities, which have their own base. Pensions from Romania. Income for which the law expressly provides that CASS is not owed. A high salary does not change the dividend band, nor the other way round.
An employee with a rented flat and dividends from their own company: the salary contribution remains the employer’s matter. Net rent and net dividends are added together; if the total exceeds 24,300 lei, CASS is owed on the band reached, through the Declarația unică (Form 212, Romania’s single annual return for income tax and social contributions owed by individuals), regardless of the size of the salary.
A PFA with dividends: two bases. On the PFA’s net income, 10% between 6 and 72 minimum wages, plus CAS if 12 wages are reached. On net dividends, aggregated with any rent or investments, the band of 6, 12 or 24. The two amounts are paid separately and declared separately, in the same Declarația unică.
An investor with income from abroad: dividends and gains from non-resident brokers fall into the second group, at the net value after the tax paid or withheld, with the corresponding tax credit. The foreign account is reported through the automatic exchange of information, and the tax authority can cross-check the return against the data received. How to declare this income is covered in the analysis on income from abroad.
A person with no income, or with income below the threshold in both groups: owes no CASS and is not insured on this basis. They can opt into insurance, at the base of 6 minimum wages, 2,430 lei for 2026, through Chapter II of the Declarația unică. Co-insurance for dependants was abolished from 1 September 2025, which turned the option, for many people, into a necessity.
Each item of income for the year, classified under its category in Article 155: salary, independent activity, or one of the categories at points (c) to (h). Misclassifying an item of income shifts the base and changes the amount.
Gross income minus deductible expenses, or the flat-rate income quota. This is compared with 6 and with 72 minimum wages. The exceptions to the minimum base are checked, in particular employee status.
The net values of all income under points (c) to (h) are added together. The band is identified: under 6, between 6 and 12, between 12 and 24, above 24 minimum wages.
Separately from CASS, if the net income of the independent activity reaches 12 minimum wages, CAS of 25% applies, on a chosen base of at least 12 or 24 wages, depending on the level.
For an independent activity, the Declarația unică with the estimated income and contributions is filed by 25 May of the current year, or within 30 days of starting the activity. An incorrect estimate is corrected through a corrective return (declarație rectificativă), up to the final settlement.
By 25 May of the following year, the final settlement is made for both groups, with payment of the differences. For the second group, the declaration is made only at final settlement, on the income actually realised.
The company’s Declarația 205 return shows how much you received in dividends. Registered lease agreements show the rents. Foreign brokers report through the exchange of information. The Declarația unică is cross-checked against all of these; differences trigger notices.
There are two bases. The PFA is not aggregated with dividends; each is paid separately, with its own cap.
The contribution from your salary covers the salary. Rent, dividends and investments above the threshold owe CASS regardless.
For the second group, payment is made on the band reached, not on the actual amount. At 50,000 lei net, the base is 48,600, not 50,000; at 30,000, the base is 24,300.
From 2026, for independent activities, it is 72. Anyone still calculating on the 2025 figure pays less than they owe.
Twice, on separate bases. For the net income from the independent activity, CASS at 10% with a base between 6 and 72 minimum wages. For dividends, aggregated with rent, investments and the other income under Article 155(c) to (h), CASS on the band of 6, 12 or 24 minimum wages. The two categories are not added into a single base.
Yes, if the aggregated income under Article 155(c) to (h) exceeds 6 gross minimum wages a year. The contribution withheld from the salary covers only the salary. For an independent activity, an employee does not owe the minimum base of 6 wages, but does owe 10% on the real net income, capped at 72.
At a gross minimum wage of 4,050 lei: the threshold of 6 wages is 24,300 lei, that of 12 is 48,600 lei, that of 24 is 97,200 lei, and the maximum cap of 72 wages for independent activities is 291,600 lei. The corresponding CASS: 2,430, 4,860, 9,720 and, for the self-employed at the maximum cap, 29,160 lei.
For independent activities, the maximum cap of the calculation base rose from 60 to 72 minimum wages, so the maximum CASS climbed to 29,160 lei. For the other categories, the bands of 6, 12 and 24 remained unchanged. The rate is still 10%.
No, for an independent activity with a loss or zero net income, no CASS is owed and you are not insured on this basis; you can opt into insurance. If you also have rent or dividends above the threshold, however, CASS is owed on those regardless.
Yes, by opting in, paying the contribution on the base of 6 minimum wages, that is 2,430 lei for 2026, declared through Chapter II of the Declarația unică. Co-insurance for dependants with no income was abolished from 1 September 2025.
Informational material, updated on 18 September 2026. It does not constitute legal or tax advice; individual situations must be examined on a case-by-case basis.
If you have an audit under way or have just received a notice, the related analyses are grouped at tax audits and the review of individuals. For how such cases are handled, see taxation for individuals.
An initial discussion classifies each item of income into its category, calculates the two bases separately, and checks previous years where the aggregation was done incorrectly, before third-party returns turn into a notice.