In brief
- Law No. 164/2026 establishes an annual financial performance-reward mechanism for the staff of the National Agency for Fiscal Administration (ANAF) and the Romanian Customs Authority, based on meeting key performance indicators approved by the Minister of Finance.
- The total value of the rewards may not exceed 12% of base-salary expenditure of the two institutions in a given year, while staff in control teams also receive separate incentives for tax/customs findings exceeding one million euros, capped at 3% of the amounts actually collected.
- The law only takes effect on 1 January 2027, and the concrete award mechanisms are to be approved by Government decisions within 90 days of publication.
Published: Official Gazette of Romania (Monitorul Oficial) No. 647 of 5 August 2026
In force from: 1 January 2027
From 2027, employees who collect taxes and duties for the state will be able to receive an annual bonus directly tied to how well they do their job, plus a separate reward for major cases. Law No. 164/2026, published in Official Gazette of Romania No. 647 of 5 August 2026, establishes a performance-reward mechanism for the staff of the National Agency for Fiscal Administration (ANAF) and the Romanian Customs Authority, the two authorities subordinate to the Ministry of Finance responsible for collecting the revenues of the general consolidated budget.
The law is structured on two distinct levels: a general annual reward mechanism, based on institutional performance indicators, and a separate incentive system for high-value findings from tax and customs control activity.
The implementing decision for ANAF was published on 31 August 2026: the three reward levels and the eligibility conditions.
What it changes in practice
The annual reward is capped at institutional level, not only individually. The total amount awarded as a financial reward in a calendar year, at the level of ANAF or of the Romanian Customs Authority, may not exceed 12% of the base-salary expenditure provided for in each institution’s approved budget for that year, paid from its own budget.
The annual performance evaluation becomes the direct basis for both rewards and sanctions. The results of the annual individual professional performance evaluation form the basis for determining both the staff who receive the financial reward and those subject to salary-reduction measures. Anyone who receives a “satisfactory” rating and fails to meet the performance indicators is sanctioned with a reduction in salary rights, under the Administrative Code.
Four situations automatically exclude the granting of the financial reward: failure to contribute to the institution’s key performance indicators, disciplinary sanction in the year for which the reward is granted, a “satisfactory” or “unsatisfactory” rating at the annual evaluation, and findings of breaches of ethics and integrity standards.
A second, separate level of reward appears for exceptional findings. Staff in tax and customs control teams (tax inspection, anti-fraud, subsequent control, mobile and canine teams, non-destructive customs control, tax status verification), in risk-analysis units, in legal units handling court representation, and in enforcement and confiscation bodies, plus their hierarchical management, may receive financial incentives for enforceable titles that have become final or been confirmed by a court and actually collected, worth more than one million euros. The incentive is granted once, capped at 3% of the value of the claims actually collected above this threshold, and is reserved for staff who had active employment relationships in the calendar year prior to payment.
One article of earlier tax legislation is expressly repealed. Article VIII of Government Emergency Ordinance No. 132/2024 (which had amended the Tax Code and the Code of Fiscal Procedure) is repealed as of the entry into force of this law.
What has changed compared with the previous situation
Until now, ANAF and Romanian Customs Authority staff had no dedicated legal mechanism for financial rewards explicitly tied to institutional performance indicators, separate from the general public-administration pay system. Law No. 164/2026 introduces this mechanism as a distinct instrument, with its own eligibility rules, budgetary cap and principles (legality, transparency, objectivity, non-discrimination, proportionality, prevention of conflicts of interest).
The most visible innovation is the incentive system for findings above one million euros, which directly links part of control teams’ income to the concrete result of their work: amounts actually recovered for the state budget, not merely amounts identified on paper. It is a substantive change from the previous logic, under which control staff had no direct financial link to the efficiency of recovering large claims.
Advantages and disadvantages
What it improves
- It creates a direct financial incentive for performance in an area (collecting budget revenue) where efficiency has a direct impact on the state budget.
- It introduces explicit safeguards against abuse: the reward is not granted in the event of disciplinary sanctions or ethics breaches, and the 12% cap prevents an uncontrolled increase in salary expenditure.
- The incentive for major findings is tied to amounts actually collected, not merely identified, reducing the risk of rewarding contestable or unrecoverable findings.
What remains a problem
- The concrete implementation mechanisms (indicator methodology, detailed criteria) are not yet public: the law refers to Government decisions expected in the coming months, so a real assessment of its impact remains incomplete until then.
- A reward system tied to amounts collected from controls could, in theory, create pressure on control teams to prioritise cases with high financial potential, at the expense of other types of irregularities.
- The law does not take effect until 1 January 2027, so ANAF and Romanian Customs Authority staff will see no practical effect in the period immediately following publication.
Practical advice
- If you work at ANAF or the Romanian Customs Authority: follow the Government decisions due within 90 days of 5 August 2026, since these will contain the concrete details of the performance indicators and award criteria.
- If you are part of a tax or customs control team: keep in mind the one-million-euro threshold for the separate incentives and the requirement that amounts be actually collected, not merely identified through an enforceable title.
- If you received a “satisfactory” rating or had a disciplinary sanction in the evaluation year: note that, under the new law, these situations automatically exclude the granting of the financial reward for that year.
- If you are a taxpayer interested in the efficiency of tax collection: the law does not directly change your tax obligations, but it introduces a mechanism meant to increase the performance of the institutions managing the collection of budget revenue.
Frequently asked questions
Who can receive the annual financial reward provided for by Law No. 164/2026?
What is the institutional cap on the reward?
What is the separate incentive for major findings?
When does the law take effect, and when will the concrete rules appear?
In what situations is the financial reward not granted?
Original text of the legal act
The text below is reproduced in Romanian, the official form of publication.
The full text, as published in the Official Gazette of Romania
Official Gazette of Romania no. 647 of 5 August 2026 16 pages PDF, 114 KB the act starts on page 4
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This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. For specific situations, consult a licensed attorney or tax advisor.