One form, eleven income categories, two chapters with different logics, and a deadline that is not negotiable. Most people who get it wrong do not do so in bad faith, but because they read the instructions for a category other than their own. Here, they are kept separate.
Form 212, the declarația unică on income tax and social contributions owed by individuals, is filed by those who, in the previous year, earned income or incurred losses in Romania or abroad for which they owe income tax or social contributions, and by those who elect to pay the health insurance contribution without having any income.
The deadline is 25 May of the following year, both for filing and for payment. Chapter I concerns income earned in the previous year, with the finalisation of tax; Chapter II concerns the current year, with the estimate of income and the elections for contributions. From 2026, the tax authority makes available, in the Spațiul Privat Virtual (SPV), the tax authority's secure online portal, data for pre-filling the return, without this replacing the taxpayer's responsibility for what is declared.
PFA (persoană fizică autorizată), the authorised sole-trader form, individual enterprises (întreprindere individuală) and family enterprises, and liberal professions. Net income, under the actual system or the flat-rate income quota (normă de venit), plus the contributions: CASS, the health insurance contribution, on net income between 6 and 72 minimum wages, and CAS, the state pension contribution, if income reaches 12 minimum wages. Both chapters are completed: finalisation for last year, the estimate for the current one. Details in the analysis on the economic activities of individuals.
Gross income, with the flat-rate expense allowance, for income from the use of property (cedarea folosinței bunurilor). Hotel-type letting has its own rules, with the room threshold that moves the income into another category, covered separately at Airbnb and Booking.
Gains from the transfer of securities through non-resident intermediaries, interest earned abroad, and dividends not declared at source. Where paid through resident intermediaries, the tax is withheld and no longer needs to be declared here; CASS still applies, on its own bands.
All the taxable categories, by country and by source, with the double-taxation relief method and the foreign tax credit. Salary paid by a non-resident employer for work performed abroad is an exception and need not be declared. Everything else, including pensions, must be.
Add to this intellectual property rights, where the payer does not withhold tax, agricultural activities, income from other sources, including gains from the transfer of virtual currency, and income from associations. Each category has its own tax base and its own place in the form; filling in one category under the rules of another is the most common error.
Income tax is the easy part: 10% on the net income of each category, subject to the exceptions provided by law. The contributions are where people go wrong, because they work on two separate bases, which are not added together.
Independent activities have their own base: CASS on the net income earned, between a minimum of 6 and a maximum of 72 minimum wages, plus CAS if net income reaches 12 minimum wages, on a chosen base of at least 12 or 24 wages. The other categories, from rent to investments and other sources, are added together and owe CASS on bands of 6, 12 or 24 minimum wages, depending on their total.
The practical consequence: a person with a PFA and with dividends pays CASS twice, on each base, each with its own cap. And an employee who also has rental income does not escape the contribution just because it is already withheld from their salary. The full mechanism, with the year's figures, is in the analysis on the aggregation of income for CASS.
Each item of income from the previous year, classified under its category. Misclassification shifts the tax base and changes the contributions; it is done before any figure is entered.
Dividends from Romanian companies, gains through resident intermediaries, copyright income subject to withholding. These are no longer declared for tax purposes, but may still count for the contributions.
Income earned under each category and country, with deductible expenses or the flat-rate quotas, with losses carried forward and the foreign tax credit, where applicable.
Separately: the net income of independent activities, with its minimum and its cap; the aggregate of the other categories, with the band reached. They are not added together.
For the current year, where the obligation exists, and for the election to pay CASS. An incorrect estimate is corrected through a corrective return (declarație rectificativă), up until finalisation.
The pre-filled return shows what the tax authority already knows: payers' returns, platform reports, registered contracts. Differences from what you declare need an explanation, because they will be noticed.
By 25 May, through the SPV. Filing without payment leaves the obligation with accesorii (late-payment charges: interest and penalties); paying without filing does not discharge the obligation to declare.
Salary is not declared, but rent, dividends and investments above the threshold are, regardless of the size of the salary.
There are two separate bases: independent activities have their own base, and the remaining categories are aggregated together.
It is a starting point drawn from the data the authority holds, not a validation. Responsibility for what you file remains yours.
Payment does not discharge the obligation to declare, and filing without payment leaves the obligation with accesorii. These are two distinct things, with the same deadline.
Individuals who have earned, on their own or through a form of association, income or losses in Romania or abroad for which they owe income tax or social contributions: independent activities, intellectual property rights, income from the use of property, investments, agricultural activities, other sources and foreign-source income. This also includes individuals with no income who elect to pay CASS.
25 May of the year following the one in which the income was earned, both for filing and for payment. For those who file and pay earlier, the law provides for a discount on the income tax, conditional on ticking the option in the form; the amount and the deadline must be checked for each year separately.
Chapter I concerns income already earned in the previous year, with the finalisation of tax and contributions. Chapter II concerns the current year: the estimate of income and contributions for those who have this obligation, as well as the election to pay CASS. The two are completed separately and follow different logics.
No. Income from salaries has its tax and contributions withheld by the employer. The declarația unică concerns income outside salary. An employee who also has rent or dividends above the threshold files the return only for those.
A corrective return is filed, ticking the corresponding box. A correction made before the statutory deadline attracts no penalties, and one made later, on your own initiative, is treated more favourably than one found by the tax authority.
The tax authority makes available to taxpayers, in the SPV, data for pre-filling the return, drawn from the information it holds: payers' returns, platform reports, registered lease contracts. The pre-filled data is a starting point, not a validated return; responsibility for the content remains the taxpayer's.
Informative material, updated on 18 September 2026. It does not constitute legal or tax advice; individual situations must be assessed on their own facts.
Analyses for individuals are grouped at tax analyses for individuals. For how such matters are handled, see tax law for individuals.
An initial discussion classifies each item of income under its category, separates the two contribution bases, and reviews previous years where the return was filed incorrectly or not filed at all.