📊 Tax

Dividends from a Romanian SRL: Tax & Payouts

If you own a Romanian SRL, you generally pay yourself in one of two ways: a salary or dividends. Most foreign owners use dividends, because they are taxed at a lower rate than employment income. This guide explains how dividends work and what tax applies in 2026.

Salary vs dividends

A salary is paid for work you actually do as an employee or administrator. It is a company expense and carries income tax plus social contributions.

A dividend is a share of the company’s profit, paid to you as a shareholder. Crucially, dividends are paid from net profit — after the company has already paid its corporate tax. You cannot distribute money the company has not earned and taxed.

The dividend tax: 16% in 2026

Dividends distributed from 1 January 2026 are subject to a 16% dividend tax (up from 10%). The tax is withheld at the moment of distribution — the company deducts it and pays it to the authorities, and you receive the net amount.

Dividends can be distributed:

• quarterly (interim distributions during the year), or
• annually, based on the approved annual financial statements.

If you take interim dividends, a year-end reconciliation is required: the amounts paid in advance are checked against the final approved profit, and any difference is settled.

Company tax comes first

Before any dividend exists, the company itself is taxed. Which regime applies changes how much profit is left to distribute:

• Micro-company — 1% on turnover in 2026 (cap €100,000, at least one employee, plus other conditions).
• Profit tax — 16% on profit for companies that don’t qualify.

See the Romania company tax guide for how these regimes work.

The flow, end to end

Step	What happens
Turnover	Money the company earns
Company tax	1% (micro) or 16% (profit tax)
Net profit	What remains after company tax
Dividend tax	16% withheld at distribution
Cash to owner	The net amount you receive

Health contribution (CASS)

For individual shareholders, a health contribution (CASS) may apply on dividend income once it exceeds certain annual thresholds. The thresholds and the way the contribution is calculated change, so treat this as a general point rather than a fixed number — confirm your exact position for the year. You can estimate both the 16% tax and CASS with our dividend tax calculator.

2026 figures. Rates, the micro-company rules, and CASS thresholds change frequently. Confirm the current rules before you rely on them — our partner accountants check each client’s situation.

Pay yourself the right way

Choosing between salary and dividends — and timing distributions correctly — affects how much tax you actually pay. Our accounting services in Romania handle the distribution paperwork, withholding and year-end reconciliation in English, so you can take profit out of your SRL cleanly and on time. Get started and we’ll map it to your situation.