Every Romanian who starts freelancing from a co-working space in Lisbon or a beach hut in Bali eventually hits the same wall: taxes. Not “should I pay taxes” — obviously yes — but “which legal structure back home actually makes sense when my clients, my bank, and my sleep schedule are all in different time zones.”
There are two real options for most location-independent Romanians: **PFA** (Persoană Fizică Autorizată) and **Micro-SRL** (a micro-enterprise limited company). Both are legal, both are common, and both get recommended confidently by people who’ve only ever used one of them. Here’s what actually differs once you’re working from abroad.
## PFA: simple, but the CASS math changed
PFA used to be the default answer for solo freelancers — one form, one registration, income tax on net profit (income minus deductible expenses). That’s still true. What’s changed in the last couple of years is health insurance (CASS): it’s no longer a flat contribution, it scales with your actual net income, in tiered thresholds based on multiples of the minimum wage. If you had a strong year, your CASS bill grew with it — sometimes by a lot.
For a nomad, PFA still wins on paperwork simplicity. You don’t need an accountant to survive, though most people hire one anyway once foreign clients and multi-currency invoices enter the picture. The real question is volume: PFA makes sense when your annual net income stays in a range where CASS + income tax doesn’t outpace what a Micro-SRL would cost you in corporate tax plus dividend tax.
## Micro-SRL: more structure, often cheaper at scale
A Micro-SRL pays a turnover tax (1% or 3% depending on whether you have employees) instead of tax on profit. That sounds great until you remember: the tax is on *revenue*, not profit, so a low-margin business can get squeezed. But for most solo consultants, freelance developers, and designers — where expenses are low and margins are high — the turnover tax plus dividend tax on what you actually withdraw often beats PFA once income climbs past a certain point.
The trade-off is administrative weight. A Micro-SRL needs proper bookkeeping, annual financial statements, and generally an accountant from day one. You’re also drawing a salary or dividends rather than “just having the money,” which matters for how banks and foreign landlords perceive your income when you’re trying to rent an apartment in another country.
## The nomad-specific wrinkle: tax residency
Neither structure solves the question that actually worries most people once they start moving countries: *am I still a Romanian tax resident?* Spend more than 183 days in a single country in a 12-month period, or make that country your “center of vital interests,” and you may owe taxes there too — regardless of where your PFA or SRL is registered. Romania’s double-taxation treaties help, but they don’t automatically protect you if you’re sloppy about tracking days or you settle somewhere for a full year without formalizing anything.
Practical habit: keep a simple spreadsheet of entry/exit dates per country. It costs nothing and it’s the first thing an accountant — Romanian or foreign — will ask for if residency ever gets questioned.
## So which one should you pick?
A rough, honest rule of thumb people actually use:
– **Just starting out, income is unpredictable, want minimal admin** → PFA.
– **Consistent income above roughly 40-50k EUR/year, low expenses, comfortable hiring an accountant** → Micro-SRL is usually cheaper overall.
– **Working with EU clients who care about VAT-registered entities, or planning to hire someone eventually** → Micro-SRL, since it scales into that more naturally.
Neither choice is permanent. Plenty of nomads start as PFA and convert to a Micro-SRL once income stabilizes — it’s a normal, unremarkable move, not a sign you did it wrong the first time.
The unsexy truth is that the legal structure matters less than the discipline around it: tracking days spent per country, keeping receipts, and talking to an accountant who’s actually dealt with remote-income clients rather than a purely local business. Get that right, and PFA vs. Micro-SRL becomes a spreadsheet decision instead of a source of anxiety.