Order on becoming employed in the design of computer programmes

The Ordinance of the Public Finances Ministry 2903 of 23 December 2016 - Order on becoming employed in the design of computer programmes was issued in Official Gazette of 9 January 2017.
The legislative act shall apply as of 1 February 2017 from salary incomes and those assimilated to salaries for the month when it comes into force, namely with incomes for the month of February 2016 and it regulates how programmers benefit from salary income tax exemption in 2017.
The main amendment removes the condition that an employer had to reach a revenue of $10,000 from software sales the previous year. Thus, such exemption can be granted from the very beginning of an activity that involves designing computer programmes.
The exemption is granted to employees of businesses operating in Romania under the laws in force, whose main scopes of activity include the design of computer programmes (NACE Codes: 5821, 5829, 6201, 6202, 6209), cumulatively observing several conditions:
  • the positions they hold correspond to the list of occupations listed in the annex to the Order: database administrator, analyst, computer science system engineer, software system engineer, IT project manager, programmer, computer system designer; computer system programmer;
  • a position is part of a specialised computer science department highlighted in the employer’s organisational chart, such as: directorate, department, office, service, bureau, compartment, or the like;
  • he/she holds a degree after completing a form of long-term higher education or holds a degree after completing the first cycle of undergraduate studies;
  • the employer has reached and distinctly reported in analytical balances incomes from the design of computer programmes. 
The provisions of the legislative act are beneficial to employees that are Romanian citizens and nationals of the European Union Member States, the European Economic Area and the Swiss Confederation, where diplomas are equated by the specialised bodies of the Ministry of National Education and Scientific Research.
 
The supporting documents for tax exemption can be stored electronically, too, if signed with an extended electronic signature based on a qualified certificate provided by an accredited service provider. Supporting documents are: articles of association for businesses, employer’s organisational chart, job description, certified true copy of the diploma awarded after completion of studies, certified true copy of the individual employment agreement, and  notarized certified copy of the diploma equivalency certificate issued by the bodies of the Ministry of National Education and Scientific Research, for citizens of the European Union Member States, the European Economic Area and the Swiss Confederation, payroll separately prepared for employees, internal order approved by the employer’s authorised management body, analytical balance to distinctly reflect the incomes from the design of computer programmes.