Is property sale tax changing? What forms 208 and 209 actually are

• 3% / 1% - sale tax rates in 2026, unchanged: 3% if you have owned the property for up to and including 3 years, 1% for over 3 years (Tax Code art. 111)
• max(price, grid) - calculation basis: the value declared in the contract, but no less than the minimum value in the chambers of notaries' market study (Article 111(4^1) of the Tax Code)
• lunar, până pe 25 - termenul în care notarii depun Formularul 208 pentru actele autentificate în luna anterioară; obligația e a notarului, nu a vânzătorului (art. 113 Cod fiscal, Ordinul ANAF 253/2024)
• 10 days - deadline for you to file Form 209, only if the transfer takes place outside notarial or court proceedings (Tax Code art. 111)

1. In brief: no, the tax is not changing

For the ordinary individual seller, nothing changes in 2026. Property transfer tax remains as set out in Article 111 of the Tax Code: 3% of the value if you have owned the property for up to and including 3 years, and 1% if you have owned it for more than 3 years. The calculation basis also remains the same: the value declared by the parties in the contract, but no less than the minimum value in the chambers of notaries' market study, known as the notarial valuation grid. The 450,000 lei tax-free allowance has not existed since 2023.

For a sale through a notary, the mechanism is also unchanged: the notary calculates the tax, withholds it from the price at authentication and pays it to the state. You do not file any return with ANAF for the sale itself.

References: Article 111 of the Tax Code (3%/1% rates, calculation basis, paragraph (4^1) for the minimum value in the chambers of notaries' market study); OG 16/2022 (abolition of the 450,000 lei allowance from 1 January 2023). For your specific situation, confirm the calculation with the notary.

2. What Form 208 is: the notary's return, not yours

Formularul 208, „Declarație informativă privind impozitul pe veniturile din transferul proprietăților imobiliare din patrimoniul personal”, este depus de notarii publici, nu de vânzători. El există de ani de zile, în baza art. 113 Cod fiscal și a ordinului comun ANAF/Ministerul Justiției 1022/2562/2016, și cuprinde transferurile autentificate de notar în luna anterioară, cu impozitul reținut pentru fiecare.

• Who files it: the notary public, for all transfer deeds they have authenticated.
• Cât de des: lunar, până pe 25 ale lunii următoare celei în care a fost autentificat actul. Până la sfârșitul lui 2023 declarația era semestrială; de acolo vine ideea, încă repetată în presă, a unui termen în iulie.
• What it contains: the parties, property, transaction value and tax withheld, information the notary already holds from the authenticated deed.
• What you do as a seller: nothing. Your tax was already withheld at signing, and reporting is the notary's obligation.

In other words: yes, your sale enters ANAF's records, but in exactly the same way it did five years ago. There is no new obligation and no additional trip to the counter for you.

Referințe: art. 113 Cod fiscal (obligația declarativă a notarilor); ordinul comun 1022/2562/2016 (formularistica 208/209); Ordinul ANAF 253/2024 (modelul actual al Formularului 208, cu depunere lunară).

3. What Form 209 is: only transfers without a notary

Form 209 is the less common counterpart to 208: it is filed by the individual, but only when the transfer of ownership does NOT go through either a notary or a court. In practice, such situations are the exception, not the rule. In this case, you must declare the income to the tax authority within a maximum of 10 days of the transfer, and ANAF establishes the tax through a tax assessment notice.

• Ordinary sale before a notary: you file nothing; the tax is withheld at authentication and reported by the notary on 208.
• Transfer by court judgment (for example, a judgment taking the place of a contract): you do not file 209 here either; the court sends the final judgment to the tax authority, which issues the tax assessment notice.
• Transfer outside notarial or court proceedings: you file Form 209 within 10 days of the transfer.

References: Article 111 of the Tax Code (declaration within 10 days for transfers through a procedure other than notarial or court proceedings; courts' communication of final judgments to the tax authority); Joint Order 1022/2562/2016.

4. De unde vine confuzia: titlurile despre „termenul ANAF”

La începutul lui iulie 2026, mai multe publicații au scris că „tranzacțiile imobiliare intră în evidența ANAF din iulie”, cu un termen de 27 iulie pentru notari. Obligația e veche și îi privește pe notari, nu pe vânzători. Mai mult, din 2024 Formularul 208 se depune lunar, nu semestrial, deci nici termenul din iulie nu mai e cel real: ANAF primește datele vânzărilor lună de lună.

The mechanism is familiar: a routine administrative deadline, presented without context, becomes news of an alleged change. The simple test is to ask: has any rate, calculation basis or seller obligation changed? For 2026, the answer to all three is no.

5. How sale tax is correctly calculated

The calculation has three steps, all unchanged in 2026:

• Establish the basis: the value declared in the contract, but no less than the minimum value in the notarial valuation grid. In practice: max(declared price, grid value).
• Establish the rate: 3% if you have owned the property for up to and including 3 years, 1% if you have owned it for more than 3 years, measured from the acquisition date to the sale date.
• Apply the rate to the basis: the tax is withheld by the notary at authentication, so in practice you see it deducted from the amount you receive.

Example: you sell a flat owned for 2 years for 90,000 euros, while its notarial valuation grid value is 100,000 euros. The calculation basis is 100,000 (the grid value, because it is higher than the price), and the tax is 3%, or 3,000 euros in lei equivalent. That is why the grid value is worth knowing before accepting a price: it determines the minimum taxable basis.

Special cases (inherited property, gifts, usufruct or bare ownership, agricultural land outside the built-up area resold quickly) have their own rules, explained on the sale tax calculator page. This guide is for information only and does not replace tax or legal advice; for your exact situation, ask the notary before signing.

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