In Official Gazette No. 715 of 31 July 2025, Government Decision No. 602/2025 was published, amending and supplementing Title VII – “Value Added Tax” of the Methodological Norms for the application of Law No. 227/2015 on the Fiscal Code, approved by Government Decision No. 1/2016.
The new provisions align the methodological norms with the Fiscal Code regarding changes to VAT rates, as amended by Law No. 141/2025 on certain fiscal-budgetary measures.
The amendments enter into force on 1 August 2025 and concern the level and scope of VAT rates.
Key changes include:
- Increasing the standard VAT rate from 19% to 21%;
- Introducing a single reduced VAT rate of 11%, applicable to both transactions previously subject to the 5% reduced rate and certain transactions subject to the 9% rate;
- Amending points 36–38 of the methodological norms for the application of Title VII of the Fiscal Code to reflect the new legal provisions.
Additionally, as the scope of food products eligible for the reduced VAT rate has been narrowed, definitions for “food intended for human consumption” and “food intended for animal consumption” (animal feed) are introduced, by reference to the relevant EU legislation – Regulation (EC) No. 178/2002 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 28 January 2002 laying down the general principles and requirements of food law, establishing the European Food Safety Authority, and laying down procedures in matters of food safety.