March 2026 Legislative Updates — How Changes Affect Businesses

March 2026 legislative changes — summary

March 2026 brought a series of regulations with direct impact on the Romanian business environment. We summarized the most important changes that company administrators and corporate lawyers need to know.

Tax Code — adjustments in force

• GEO 12/2026 — Clarifications on extra-salary benefits tax regime (meal tickets, vacation vouchers): non-taxable limit updated to 40 lei/day for meal tickets
• GEO 15/2026 — New rules for hybrid and electric vehicle expense deductibility: full depreciation deductibility for 100% electric vehicles purchased in 2026
• ANAF Order 231/2026 — Simplified VAT registration procedure for start-ups (15-day decision, vs 30 days previously)

Labor Code — updates

• Telework — mandatory written agreement for telework transition, new mandatory addendum clauses
• Parental leave — paternal leave extension to 15 working days (from 10), effective March 1, 2026
• Overtime — clarifications on time-off compensation: compensation deadline extended to 90 days (from 60)
• Whistleblower protection — extended application to companies with over 50 employees (previously 250)

Commercial and corporate law

• Trade Register Law (amended) — complete online procedures for registration, articles of association amendments, and dissolution. Processing time reduced to 3 business days
• Interim dividends — distribution clarifications: mandatory audited interim financial statements for dividends over 500,000 lei
• Mergers and divisions — simplified procedure for intra-group mergers (no independent valuation if shareholding is identical)

GDPR and data protection

ANSPDCP issued new guidelines in March 2026 on:

• Post-Brexit personal data transfers (new standard contractual clauses)
• AI use in automated decision-making — mandatory impact assessment (DPIA)
• Data processing records update — compliance deadline June 1, 2026

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