Payroll in Romania 2026: CAS, CASS, income tax and minimum wage

In Romania the employer withholds the employee's pension contribution (CAS, 25%), health contribution (CASS, 10%) and 10% income tax from each salary, 41.5% of gross pay when no personal deduction applies. The employer itself adds only the 2.25% work insurance contribution (CAM) and reports everything on declaration 112 to ANAF by the 25th of the following month.

Payroll in Romania at a glance

Social security contributions

Romanian payroll contributions are set in the Fiscal Code, and almost all of them are owed by the employee. The employer calculates and withholds them and pays them together with its own CAM.

CAS and CASS are calculated on the employee's gross earnings from salaries and similar income, including benefits in cash and in kind, in Romania and abroad within the European social security rules.

CAM (contribuția asiguratorie pentru muncă) is owed by employers on the gross pay of their employees and declared on the same declaration 112.

Particular and special conditions. Employers whose staff work in particular working conditions (condiții deosebite) pay an extra 4% CAS, and in special working conditions (condiții speciale) 8%, as defined in the public pension law.

Income tax on salaries

Salary income tax in Romania is a final monthly tax of 10%, calculated and withheld by the employer when the salary is paid. At the employee's main job (funcția de bază) the tax base is:

• gross pay
• minus CAS and CASS for the month
• minus the personal deduction for the month, if the employee qualifies
• minus union dues, and within annual limits of the equivalent of €400 each, contributions to voluntary pension schemes and voluntary health insurance premiums borne by the employee

At other jobs the 10% applies to gross pay minus the contributions only.

Personal deduction (deducere personală). The basic personal deduction applies only to employees whose gross monthly pay is at most RON 2,000 above the minimum wage in force that month. It is a percentage of the minimum wage that depends on pay and dependants:

So at the minimum wage of RON 4,325 a single employee's deduction is 20% of RON 4,325, RON 865 a month. On top, a supplementary personal deduction gives employees under 26 with pay up to the same limit 15% of the minimum wage, and parents RON 100 a month for each child under 18 enrolled in education, whatever their pay.

Romania has no regional or local income tax on salaries.

Minimum wage, working time and mandatory pay

Minimum wage. The guaranteed minimum gross base salary (salariul de bază minim brut pe țară garantat în plată) was RON 4,050 a month from 1 January 2025 and remained so in the first half of 2026, for an average normal working schedule of 165.334 hours a month (RON 24.496 an hour). On 12 March 2026 the Government approved a decision raising it to RON 4,325 a month from 1 July 2026.

The separate minimum wage for agriculture and the food industry, also RON 4,050, is repealed from 1 July 2026, so those sectors follow the national RON 4,325.

Benefits in kind. If the employer provides meals, accommodation or other facilities, the cash wage for the work done still cannot be lower than the minimum gross wage.

Thirteenth salary. Romanian law does not require a 13th salary; bonuses depend on the contract, internal rules or a collective agreement.

Monthly payroll calendar and filings

1. 1Record the employment contract in REGES-ONLINE, the general register of employees operated by the Labour Inspectorate, and keep it up to date when contracts change, are suspended or end.
2. 2Pay salaries and withhold CAS, CASS and income tax on the day of payment.
3. 3File declaration 112 (Declarația privind obligațiile de plată a contribuțiilor sociale, impozitului pe venit și evidența nominală a persoanelor asigurate) with ANAF, with the data for each employee, by the tax payment deadline: the 25th of the following month.
4. 4Pay the income tax, CAS, CASS and CAM by the 25th of the month after the month the salaries relate to.
5. 5Quarterly option. Some payers pay the income tax quarterly by the 25th of the month after the quarter, among them non-profit legal entities, profit-tax companies with revenue of up to €100,000 and fewer than 3 employees on average in the previous year, micro-enterprises with fewer than 3 employees on average, and self-employed people with employees.

Worked example: RON 8,000 a month

A single employee aged 26 or over, without dependants, earns RON 8,000 gross a month at their main job. Because that is more than RON 2,000 above the minimum wage, no personal deduction applies.

The employee takes home 58.5% of gross pay, while the employer's cost is only 2.25% above it.

Common mistakes

1. 1Granting the personal deduction to an employee whose gross pay is more than RON 2,000 above the minimum wage, or at a job that is not the main job.
2. 2Using the old minimum wage from July 2026: the threshold for the deduction moves with it, from RON 6,050 to RON 6,325.
3. 3Calculating tax on gross pay instead of pay after CAS and CASS.
4. 4Forgetting the extra 4% or 8% CAS for jobs in particular or special working conditions.
5. 5Missing the 25th, or filing declaration 112 after the payment deadline it is tied to.
6. 6Not updating REGES-ONLINE when a contract starts, changes or ends.

How Clientlly helps

Clientlly does not ship a built-in payroll profile for Romania. An administrator enters the Romanian payroll rates once in the payroll tax settings: the income-tax bands, the personal allowance, the employee and employer contribution rates and the minimum wage. Clientlly then calculates gross to net and the employer contributions and produces payslips. Check the Romanian specifics for each employee: the personal deduction table, dependants, the under-26 and child deductions, and the main-job rule.

Alongside payroll, the human resources module handles leave requests and approvals with a leave calendar and keeps HR documents, and attendance and time tracking records working hours and overtime.