The legal status of freelancers in Romania

A freelancer is represented by a person who works for themselves, so without being employed, who can set working hours for themselves as they please, while also having the right to choose their own customers based on criteria that they establish on their own.

A freelancer may conduct their business in a wide variety of fields such as photography, IT, article writing, blogging, social media, virtual assistant and many others.

We can say that a freelancer is a service provider that offers his services in exchange for money, a price that the freelancer sets on their own.

We can say that the income of a freelancer who is not organized as a company in accordance with the Romanian law falls in the category of income from independent activities, as qualified by the provisions of the Tax Code in art. 67-75.

According to art. 67 of the Tax Code, income from independent activities includes income from activities of production, trade, services, income from liberal professions and income from intellectual property rights, made individually and / or in a form of association, including adjacent activities.

As we examined in previous articles, the year of 2016 brought along certain legislative changes in fiscal terms regarding the manner of taxation of natural persons (PFA).

This being said, as was previously stated, a PFA in 2016 will pay tax at the following levels:

▪ income tax, amounting to 16%;

▪ individual contribution to pensions, amounting to 10.5%;

▪ contribution to health insurance, amounting to 5.5%.

Therefore, the level of taxation of the PFA in 2016 will reach 32%.

As we can see, a freelancer is not classified as a separate category in the provisions of the Tax Code, but rather falls within the already determined categories of the Tax Code, the income of a freelancer thus being considered to be income from independent activities, alongside the income of a PFA or, for example, an individual enterprise.

Moreover, our legislation does not provide freelancers with different tax incentives from the ones that are established for those whose income falls within the category of income from independent activities, according to the provisions of the Romanian Tax Code.

If you wish to perform activities as a freelancer and you require more information regarding the legal status of this profession under the legal provisions of Romania, please feel free to contact the lawyers specializing in tax law at the law firm Darie,Manea & associates. For more information regarding the tax status of a PFA, you can also review the articles written on the taxation of PFA, in accordance with the legislation on the matter..

Our lawyers are committed to finding optimum solutions to legal problems of various kinds, offering specialized legal advice based on accurate and complete information, according to the latest legislative changes in this area, as well as representation before the competent authorities, if necessary .