# Taxes in Romania Explained



## Liz#1 (Feb 27, 2018)

Good Day

I will in the near future love to move to Romania after marrying my Romanian fiancée and completing application for residency. Of course only after becoming a resident, will I be able to work in the country. Because of the language barrier, I’m very like only able to find a job in a call center (I already have a friend who can help me out with this possibility). The average salary I’ve been told for this position is about 400 euro/month. Is there exemption from taxes on this small a salary? I know in South Africa salaries less than 400 euro are exempted. I’m not trying to avoid paying tax (I understand it’s everyone’s duty), but with such a small salary, what will I really be getting out at the end of the month after taxes, social security deductions, etc?

My idea was to be a freelancer and do small online jobs from home (transcription, data capturing, etc.). Probably it won’t pay much, but I guess with good research and putting yourself out there, one might be surprised at the possibilities. But after doing a bit of research on freelancers and self-employed, registering yourself as one of these, lead up to deductions of almost 45%. Is this for real? Unfortunately, being a freelancer, you never really know what you would make at the end of the month. You cannot even make an estimate, so how would you pay all the expected contributions and taxes? Again, I’m not trying to avoid paying tax, but would it be best to just not register yourself as 45% deductions is very hefty and if I’m not mistaken, there are certain rules in being able to register as a freelancer (eg qualified training, a registered office, etc)? I don’t exactly want a knock on the door one day and be asked “So what are you doing about your taxes?”

It is very important for me to belong to a pension fund as well. Would I automatically make contributions while working at the call center or would I be able to apply for a personal pension fund (at eg. a bank) when I don’t pay the compulsory social contributions which apply to employees if I go the freelance route? 

My question really is, should I take up this call center job and at least get myself rid of the tax man, by paying what I need to through this job, quietly take up the freelancing in my spare time or could I financially make a living from just doing freelancing? 

I apologize for the long thread, but I’m desperate for expert advice as I’m already having sleepless nights wondering what I’m going to do in Romania to make a living without getting into trouble. I almost feel that being a foreigner, I’ll be even more in the spotlight.


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