Starting a company in Romania: Experiences

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Company formation in Romania: Experiences

If you’re looking for a way to pay fewer taxes by starting a company in Romania while staying resident in your home country, or emigrating to Romania—without having a bad experience—then listen carefully now.

I’d like to share my experiences that I had in the early days in Romania. These experiences are often similar to those of prospective clients who come to us due to difficulties and problems because after their seemingly simple company formation they are left completely stranded.

What can be said upfront, and many underestimate, is the fact: It’s still Romania. The pace is different and many things take much longer if you don’t have the right contacts and guides.

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Here is my experience:

Years ago, before I came to GO EU, I chose a Romanian provider for company formation in Romania. It was even a Romanian lawyer, who spoke some German and good English. He made a good impression with his sympathy and explanations, and I thought to myself that if the entire process was handled by a lawyer, it should go smoothly.

Far from it. I made the effort to travel to Bucharest, Romania, and my lawyer even accompanied me to the notary. So far, so good. He told me that the company would be ready in a few days. I stayed in Romania to wait for the company documents.

As fate would have it, the process was delayed by the Commercial Register because he made a mistake when submitting the documents. It sounds crazy, but even a wrong order of documents can cause a significant delay.

(Today, I’m wiser and know that it takes a real expert! Even the smallest mistake when submitting documents can lead to a rejection from the Trade Register, and it could take days or even weeks going back and forth.)

Since it was still unclear when the company would be finished, we agreed that I would come back to Romania once the Romanian company was officially registered.

I traveled to Bucharest again 14 days later. The company was ready, and I set off to open an account at a local bank. At 4 banks, I was rejected because I was a foreigner. But at the last bank, I finally succeeded. I waited another 6 days in Bucharest and was then able to pick up my bank cards and online banking at the branch.

Finally, back home, it seemed like my company was up and running. I created my first invoices and continued to stay in contact with my Romanian lawyer. He had initially mentioned that he would take care of the accounting completely. I brought it up with him and mentioned that it was probably time to start the tax consultation. Even though I had explicitly asked each time if there was anything I should be aware of regarding this matter.

He then told me: It is now required that for tax accounting, a Romanian tax advisor must be notarized.

Is he serious? Why didn’t he tell me this earlier!
His suggestion: I should come back to Romania and go to the notary there, or alternatively, go to a notary in Germany.

I eventually managed to get through all of that after some time. Getting a VAT ID is also not that easy and requires notarial authorization once again.

I was finally able to handle all of these obstacles with great effort and difficulty. The Romanian company was thriving, and I thought everything was on the right track.

Then, after over a year, the next bombshell hit: My company address had expired, and the tax advisor took weeks to respond to me, making serious mistakes when submitting the taxes.

As a result, I changed the tax advisor and switched from a single tax consultant to a well-known tax firm in Bucharest.

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Tax-wise, this decision turned out to be disastrous for me. I paid significantly more taxes than I should have, and I had to pay penalties from the tax office for late submissions. Even a large tax firm made nothing but mistakes and always responded to me with delays of several weeks.

The entire situation made me rethink everything. Who could help me now?

Due to my setbacks, I contacted all the German-speaking incorporation agencies I could find. However, I quickly realized that most agencies offer company formations in many countries and therefore cannot be specialized in Romania, which I needed in my case.

Most providers are more focused on a quick closure and also outsource the tax accounting to mediocre tax advisors.

Of course, I didn’t want to experience that again. I decided to personally meet the team at GO EU. Their own Romanian tax advisor, who works almost exclusively with GO EU clients, as well as his son, who is permanently employed in GO EU’s accounting. Since that day, almost everything has been running smoothly both tax-wise and organisationally. I have never regretted the decision.

Now, some might say, “Of course, I’m only sharing positive feedback, since I also feature numerous videos from GO EU.” However, everyone is welcome to meet the entire GO EU team and form their own opinion.

Yes, that’s true—a video collaboration developed between me and GO EU. I have always worked as a videographer, and I am so grateful in hindsight that my tax situation, despite initial difficulties, has improved so much. It made sense to share my knowledge.

What are the special features of GO EU?

Let’s talk about the 3 unique features.:

 

1. Company address with rental contract

Provision of a company address with a real rental contract, which specifies the premises. This means a real document that does not have the character of a shell company and shows real substance.

2. Company formation completely remotely without any notary appointment on-site

Thanks to our years of expertise and network, we have managed to partner with a high-ranking lawyer in Romania with notarial authority. This section can be filmed separately or restarted with sad music, as it provides an insight into how things can go worse than with GO EU.

Thanks to our years of expertise and network, we have managed to partner with a high-ranking lawyer in Romania with notarial authority. This section could be filmed separately or restarted with sad music, as it provides an insight into how things can go worse than with GO EU.

Our high-ranking lawyer with notarial authority replaces any on-site notary appointment. This means that there is no need to visit a notary in your country of residence, nor is there any need to travel to Romania for the entire company formation process.

This process is usually reserved for diplomats: A notary appointment takes place digitally via video conference.

Note: In special cases, Romania may also require a self-declaration about any debts with tax offices and criminal records, which must be notarized. This one-sided document can also be digitally notarized online.

In short: For the entire company formation process, no travel to Romania is necessary, and as a special feature, there is not a single physical notary appointment on-site.

3. Long-term support

Let’s now look back on our years of experience:

One of the biggest challenges we faced in the early days in Romania many years ago was the poor support in accounting and the resulting tax handling. We had signed mandates with numerous well-known Romanian tax firms, but the result was consistently disastrous.

A top chief accountant would have likely handled it well, but due to the low wage structure, in almost all cases, you end up with employed accountants who lack sufficient expertise and make serious mistakes. This may not be intentional, but in the end, it always turns out to be very costly.

At GO EU, we can proudly claim to have a state-registered tax advisor in Romania who works almost exclusively for our clients and truly understands international tax law. He proactively informs us about tax changes and strategically works alongside our clients to create and manage their company’s roadmap.

Update 2025: 10 Minutes initial consultation 100% free.

Inquire now

Call us at: +49 (0)89 90 42 23 60

(NEW: Company formation and bank account opening - 100% remote)