Court taxes for filing a claim before a Romanian court of law
File a legal claim before a Romanian court of law
Our legal office can help you exercise your claim against debtors located in Romania
Court taxes in Romania. The general rule.
Romanian courts are able to judge legal claims filed against debtors or obligors located in Romania. This means the debtor has their headquarters or has an office located in Romania. A Romanian court of law might also be able to judge your claim if said claim refers to assets situated in Romania, to contractual obligations that are or were to be performed in Romana or to acts performed in Romania.
Exercising a claim before a Romanian court requires the creditor to pay a court tax to the local fiscal authorities.
The court tax is calculated according to the value of the claimant‘s claim. There are many exceptions to this situation. There are also court taxes that are of a fixed amount; in cases where monetary claims are incident, however, the value of the court tax is calculated as a percent of the value of the claim. As such, we encourage you to contact us for details.
According to Government Urgent Ordinance no. 80/2013 regulating court taxes:
Claims of foreign court order recognition are taxed with a 20 lei court order tax.
Monetary claims filed in the courts are taxed as follows:
- Up to the value of 500 lei – 8%, but not less than 20 lei;
- Between 501 lei and 5.000 lei – 40 lei + 7% for the amount exceeding 500 lei;
- Between 5.001 lei and 25.000 lei – 355 lei + 5% for the amount exceeding 5.000 lei;
- Between 25.001 lei and 50.000 lei – 1.355 lei + 3% for the amount exceeding 25.000 lei;
- Between 50.001 lei and 250.000 lei – 2.105 lei + 2% for the amount exceeding 50.000 lei;
- Over 250.000 lei – 6.105 lei + 1% for the amount exceeding 250.000 lei.
Note: Roughly estimate 1 EUR = 5 Romanian lei
Court taxes in Romania. The exception. Simplified monetary claims. Low value claims.
Romanian law recognises two simplified procedures for monetary claims. These procedures are quick, urgent and cheap – 200 Romanian LEI fixed court tax (around 40 EUR), no matter the value of the claim). These procedures take place before a court of law, they are primarily written and are optional.
The first simplified procedure is the Order of Payment procedure (click to read more). Court tax is a fixed amount of around 40 EUR (200 Romanian LEI), no matter of the value of the claim. Judgement is issued quicker than a judgements issued in the general procedure. This procedure is applicable only for monetary claims, and only when the debtors obligation of payment is recognised in writing (by signing an invoice, contract or other such documents recognising the creditor’s claim in writing).
The second simplified procedure is the Low Value claim procedure. Court tax is a fixed amount of around 40 EUR (200 Romanian LEI) no matter of the value of the claim. The value of the claim can’t be higher than 10.000 Romanian LEI (or around 2.000 EUR). Judgement is issued quicker than a judgements issued in the general procedure. This procedure takes place in writing. Should the court find it necessary, the judge can call the parties before the court for further explanations.
Recovery of court tax
The winning party can request that the losing party pays all legal fees. Legal fees include court taxes, lawyer fees and other costs, such as expert fees.
There are situations where the court may rule partially in favour of the claimant. In some cases, it might be argued that both parties were successful in their claim and/or defence. In such cases, the court might split the costs of litigation or hold each party to bear their own legal expenses.
Lawyer fees. Cost of hiring us as your lawyers
Lawyer fees are paid by our clients in advance and should be fully covered before the final hearing, when the court remains in deliberation. Should the claimant/creditor win the case and be granted the requested claim, the debtor will be held to cover bear all legal expenses, including lawyer fees and court taxes paid by the claimant.
To hold the losing debtor to pay court taxes and lawyer fees, the payment of the lawyer’s fee must have been performed prior to the final hearing, otherwise the court will not grant these expenses.
As a general rule, please bear in mind that lawyer fees are agreed upon with the client based on the complexity of the case.
For a list of fees we practice for certain types of claims, such as order of payment claims, low value claims or payment notices, please refer to the Prices section of our website.
Disclaimer on recovery of legal fees
Please bear in mind the following:
- The court decides through court order the amount of money granted to the winning party which represents legal fees.
- The court is able to diminish the amount the winning party requests as legal fees, should the judge appreciate that the lawyer’s fee is reasonably disproportionate in comparison to the value of the claim or the effort put in by the winning party.
- As opposed to other jurisdictions (such as Germany), there is no law regulating the maximum or the minimum amount of lawyer’s fees. As such, the amount representing legal fees is granted based solely on the judge’s evaluation.
- The court does not usually diminish the amount requested by the party which represents lawyer fees.
Fees for enforcing court decisions
After obtaining a court order (or after recognition of a foreign court order), the creditor may enforce the court order against the debtor who is unwilling to fulfil their obligations. Enforcement of a court order is performed with the help of a civil enforcer.
In case of enforcing a court order against the debtor, the creditor:
- can be assisted by a lawyer, in which case they will have to pay a lawyer’s fee ;
- must pay in advance the civil enforcer’s fee (usually a part of it), which varies depending on the value of the claim granted through court order;
- must also pay a 20 lei court tax for the competent court to give the civil enforcer power to enforce the court order by any means necessary.
All fees paid in the civil enforcement procedure will be recovered from the debtor, if they are solvable.
Also see:
European Union Member State Court Order Recognition in Romania
Article about the recognition and enforcement procedure in Romania for a court order issued by a court of a European Union member state
Recognition of Foreign, Non-EU Court Orders in Romania. Exequatur Procedure
Article about the recognition and enforcement procedure for a foreign court order in Romania
Romanian Lawyer Office. Simplified procedure of debt recovery in Romania
The creditor may opt for a judgement under a simplified procedure and significantly lower court costs. Find out more in the following article!
Romanian Lawyer Office. Simplified procedure of debt recovery in Romania
The creditor may opt for a judgement under a simplified procedure and significantly lower court costs. Find out more in the following article!
Recognition of Foreign, Non-EU Court Orders in Romania. Exequatur Procedure
Article about the recognition and enforcement procedure for a foreign court order in Romania
European Union Member State Court Order Recognition in Romania
Article about the recognition and enforcement procedure in Romania for a court order issued by a court of a European Union member state
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About Us
Mr. Andrei-Mihnea Gane, Managing Partner
We understand how difficult it is for our clients to find legal professionals they can entrust their case to outside their country’s jurisdiction. We aim to offer professional, high quality legal services to clients from outside Romania and build durable relations based on trust and transparency.
We are authorised under law to practice by the National Bar Union of Romania. We’ve assisted hundreds of clients in civil cases before Romanian Courts of law over the years, many of which have been international clients. We invite you to read the articles posted on our website, articles in which we’ve attached examples of court orders from our practice.
About Us
Mr. Andrei-Mihnea Gane, Managing Partner
We understand how difficult it is for our clients to find legal professionals they can entrust their case to outside their country’s jurisdiction. We aim to offer professional, high quality legal services to clients from outside Romania and build durable relations based on trust and transparency.
We are authorised under law to practice by the National Bar Union of Romania. We’ve assisted hundreds of clients in civil cases before Romanian Courts of law over the years, many of which have been international clients. We invite you to read the articles posted on our website, articles in which we’ve attached examples of court orders from our practice.
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