Business Forum • 15 June, 2026 at 11:24 AM
Romania is entering a new stage, with its multiannual economic recovery programme launching in 2026, carrying an estimated budget of around €5 billion through 2032 and a dedicated framework for anchor-type strategic investments above €200 million, according to experts at EY Romania.
The programme is structured on eight priority directions of state aid, aimed at industrial modernisation, strengthening value chains and extending productive investment beyond major development hubs, plus schemes for defence, competitiveness clusters and tourism. Despite clear advantages, the use of fiscal facilities and available financing remains relatively low in Romania, due to complex eligibility requirements, limited legislative predictability and difficulties in documentation. The central message is that these instruments can no longer be treated in isolation but must be integrated into a strategic approach correlating investment decisions, financial structure and long-term objectives.
Tax incentives can no longer be seen merely as compliance mechanisms but as strategic tools for supporting investment. One of the most relevant remains the exemption for reinvested profit, allowing fiscal savings of around 16% of the value invested in eligible assets such as technological equipment or IT solutions. Recent adjustments have increased flexibility, including clarifications on reserves from reinvested profit that can later be distributed under certain conditions without losing the benefit. There are technical limits, however: taxpayers applying this facility generally cannot opt for accelerated depreciation on the same assets, though exceptions apply for 2026 to certain asset categories.
Research and development facilities also play an essential role, remaining among the most attractive fiscally. The additional deduction of R&D expenses, a 10% tax credit and the income tax exemption for employees in such activities can significantly affect operational costs and innovation speed. The current framework allows access based on a broad definition of R&D, without conditioning eligibility on project success. Other mechanisms include VAT optimisations, fiscal bonuses for compliant taxpayers and the sponsorship tax credit.
Alongside fiscal facilities, companies can access non-reimbursable financing for investment, particularly in R&D, production or services. The relationship between grants and tax incentives is not always linear: while the law does not explicitly forbid combining benefits, state aid rules create limits in practice. Assets covered by the reinvested-profit exemption, for example, generally cannot be financed from non-reimbursable sources, due to the principle of avoiding double financing.