You worked for twenty years in Italy or in Germany, came home, and the pension arrives monthly from there, sometimes with tax withheld, sometimes without. Nobody withholds anything in Romania. That does not mean nothing is owed; it means that you calculate, declare and pay, once a year, under rules that changed in August 2025.
An individual resident in Romania who receives pension income from abroad, of the kind taxable in Romania and for which Romania has the right to tax under the treaty, declares it through the Declarația unică (Form 212), Romania's single annual return for income tax and social contributions owed by individuals, by 25 May of the following year. Taxable income is determined by deducting the monthly non-taxable amount of 3,000 lei and, where applicable, the health insurance contribution, and the tax rate is 10%.
From 1 August 2025, under Legea nr. 141/2025, pensions above 3,000 lei a month also owe CASS, the health insurance contribution, at 10% on the part exceeding the threshold, a rule that also applies to pensions from abroad, which the recipient calculates and declares themselves, month by month and for each country. Tax withheld in the source state, where the treaty allows it, is recognised as a tax credit up to the limit of the tax owed in Romania.
The first question is not how much, but who. Double taxation treaties concluded by Romania usually treat two categories differently. Pensions paid for work in the private sector are, under most treaties, taxable only in the recipient's state of residence; for a pensioner settled in Romania, this means tax exclusively in Romania, with no withholding in the source state. Pensions paid by a state or one of its subdivisions, for public functions, generally remain taxable in the state that pays them, with a credit or exemption in Romania.
The rule is not universal. Some treaties allow the source state to withhold limited tax on private pensions too, others tie the treatment to nationality, and social security benefits can have their own article. Each treaty is read in its own terms, at the article on pensions and the one on public functions. The list of treaties in force is published by ANAF, and the text of each is published in the Official Gazette.
When the treaty allocates the exclusive right to Romania, and the source state withholds tax anyway, the remedy is not a tax credit in Romania, which is not granted for tax withheld without a right to do so, but a refund claim in the source state, usually on the basis of the tax residence certificate issued by ANAF. The certificate is obtained annually and sent to the pension payer, so that the withholding stops.
3,000 lei a month, for each pension entitlement. A pension below the threshold owes neither tax nor CASS. For the calculation, amounts in foreign currency are converted at the average annual exchange rate published by the National Bank of Romania for the year the income was earned.
On the part exceeding 3,000 lei, month by month, from 1 August 2025. It is declared in the dedicated section of the Declarația unică, for each country. The measure is set to cease for pension income earned from 1 January 2028.
On the annual gross income reduced by the monthly non-taxable amount and by the CASS owed. The order matters: first the threshold, then CASS, then the tax on what remains.
Tax withheld in the source state, under the treaty and proven with a document, is deducted from the tax owed in Romania, but not beyond it. For states without a treaty, tax paid there is not recognised. The obligation to declare remains regardless of the result.
A simple example: a private pension of 700 euros a month, from a state with a treaty that gives Romania the exclusive right. At an average annual rate of around 5 lei, the monthly income is roughly 3,500 lei; the part above the threshold, 500 lei; CASS, 50 lei; the taxable base, 450 lei; tax, 45 lei a month, around 540 lei a year, plus 600 lei CASS. The figures are illustrative and are recalculated at the rate for the year.
A pensioner who returns to Romania with their domicile and home here becomes, most often, a Romanian tax resident, with the obligation to declare worldwide income: the pension from abroad, but also interest, rent or dividends from the state where they worked. Someone who has returned without closing out their tax position in the state of departure can be treated as resident by both states; the treaty's tie-breaker criteria settle it, and the residence certificate is the document that sets them in motion.
The foreign account into which the pension arrives is reported through the automatic exchange of information, and sums transferred to Romania leave a banking trail. An undeclared pension is not invisible; it is merely undeclared, until the first notice.
The reverse situation, a Romanian pensioner settled abroad, has its own rules: the Pension House (Casa de pensii) withholds tax and CASS above the threshold under the 2026 joint order of CNPP and CNAS (Romania's national pension and health insurance authorities), with exemption from CASS, on request, for anyone who proves they are insured in the state of residence, and the treaty can move the right to tax to the new state, with the residence certificate from there presented to the payer.
Romanian tax residence is confirmed: domicile, home, the centre of vital interests. Without it, Romania does not tax the foreign pension; with it, it taxes worldwide income.
Public or private, from which state, under which treaty. The applicable article is read and it is established who has the right to tax and whether the source state may withhold.
It is requested from ANAF and sent to the payer abroad, so that withholding there is made only within the limits of the treaty, or not at all.
The gross amounts received each month, the tax withheld, the exchange rate. The 3,000 lei threshold and CASS apply monthly, so the records are kept monthly.
By 25 May of the following year, the section for income from abroad, for each country and source, with the method for avoiding double taxation and with CASS on the pension in its own section.
The document from the foreign tax authority or the payer regarding the tax withheld, translated if required. Without it, no credit is granted, and the tax is paid in full in Romania.
Pensions from abroad not declared in previous years are declared through corrective returns (declarație rectificativă), before any notice. The threshold and the rates applied are those of each respective year.
Withholding abroad does not replace declaring in Romania. It gives a right to a credit, if it was done under the treaty; otherwise, it is claimed back there.
Below 3,000 lei a month you owe nothing, but declaring remains mandatory when Romania has the right to tax.
For the pension from Romania, yes, by the Pension House. For the pension from abroad, nobody withholds it: you declare it yourself, monthly, for each country.
Without a treaty, you declare in full and get no credit for tax paid there. The lack of a treaty makes it more costly, not exempt.
If you are a Romanian tax resident and the treaty with the source state gives Romania the right to tax, yes: the pension is declared through the Declarația unică, with the non-taxable amount of 3,000 lei a month, tax of 10% on what exceeds it and, where applicable, CASS. If Germany has withheld tax under the treaty, a tax credit is granted up to the limit of the tax owed in Romania.
No, neither tax nor CASS: the monthly non-taxable threshold is 3,000 lei, and CASS is owed only on the part that exceeds it. Declaring remains mandatory, however, when Romania has the right to tax, even if the result is zero.
10% of the part that exceeds 3,000 lei, for each month and for each pension entitlement, declared by the recipient in the dedicated section of the Declarația unică, month by month and for each country. The measure, introduced from 1 August 2025 by Legea nr. 141/2025, is set to cease for pension income earned from 1 January 2028.
Yes. The treaty establishes who has the right to tax; if the right belongs to Romania, the pension is declared and taxed here, with no tax in the source state. If the source state has nonetheless withheld tax, despite having no right to do so, the remedy is a refund there, not a credit in Romania.
The pension decisions or certificates from the source state, proof of the amounts received each month, the document attesting to the tax withheld abroad, issued by the tax authority or the payer, and the Romanian tax residence certificate, if the source state requires it for the treaty to apply. Amounts in foreign currency are converted at the average annual rate published by the National Bank of Romania (BNR).
The reverse situation has its own rules: the Pension House withholds the tax and, above 3,000 lei, CASS, under the 2026 joint order of CNPP and CNAS, with the possibility of exemption from CASS, on request, for anyone who proves they are insured under the health system of their state of residence. And the treaty with Italy can move the right to tax, with the residence certificate presented to the payer.
Informative material, updated on 18 September 2026. The figures in the example are illustrative; this does not constitute legal or tax advice, and individual situations must be assessed on their own facts.
If the situation involves income, accounts or residence in another country, the related analyses are grouped under the international tax analyses. For assistance on such matters, see international taxation.
An initial discussion establishes, under the applicable treaty, who has the right to tax, what you actually owe after the threshold, CASS and the credit, and how past years are settled before any notice.