TL;DR:
A Moldovan SRL is governed by Law 135/2007, has no statutory minimum capital, and is registered at ASP in one to three working days.
Foreign founders can hold 100% of shares with no residency requirement, and the entire process runs remotely under a notarised and apostilled power of attorney.
Tax sits at 12% standard CIT with a 6% dividend withholding tax, with the 0% reinvested-profits regime for qualifying SMEs and the 7% MITP turnover regime for IT residents.
Many founders assume that opening a company abroad means months of paperwork, mandatory travel and high legal fees. Moldova does not work that way. The SRL structure under Law 135/2007 is recognised, light to administer, and inexpensive to register. This guide walks through what incorporation actually involves, why Moldova is a serious option for non-resident founders, the step-by-step ASP process, and the tax framework you should understand before drafting the founding documents.
Key Takeaways
Point · Details
- Statutory basis · Law 135/2007 governs the SRL; ASP (Agenția Servicii Publice) is the registration authority
- Minimum capital · None; the historical MDL 5,400 floor was abolished
- Foreign ownership · 100% permitted, no residency requirement for shareholders or directors
- Standard tax · 12% CIT on profit, 6% dividend withholding tax, 20% VAT
- Specialist regimes · 0% on reinvested profits for qualifying SMEs; 7% MITP turnover tax for IT residents
What incorporation actually does
Incorporation creates a separate legal person from the founders. Once registered, the SRL signs contracts, owns assets, opens bank accounts and incurs liabilities in its own name. That separation is the central point. If the business faces a claim or accumulates debt, the founders' personal assets are shielded behind the corporate veil up to the value of their shareholdings.
In practice, an SRL gives a founder five things that operating personally does not:
- Limited liability up to the shareholding
- A vehicle for tax planning, profit retention and structured distributions
- A counterparty that institutional investors and banks recognise
- Continuity of operation regardless of changes in ownership
- Credibility in cross-border contracts, where counterparties expect a formal entity
Trying to scale without an entity is difficult. Negotiating a serious software licence or applying for a payment institution authorisation as a sole trader runs into walls quickly. Banks, regulators and enterprise clients expect to deal with a registered company. The SRL form under Law 135/2007 is recognisable to international counterparties because it mirrors the limited liability companies they are used to. For practitioner context on how the same logic plays out in other jurisdictions, Price & Accountants' note on corporation tax sets out why the company-level layer matters once a business operates in multiple countries.
Why incorporate in Moldova
Moldova has become an attractive seat for non-resident founders, particularly in IT and adjacent services, for reasons that go beyond the headline rate.
A Moldovan SRL can be formed with 100% foreign ownership and no minimum share capital. The historical MDL 5,400 floor was abolished, and capital can in principle be set at 1 MDL, although banks may ask for proof of operational funding at account opening as a matter of policy rather than statute. There is no residency requirement for shareholders or directors. Registration runs at ASP, which absorbed the former Camera Înregistrării de Stat in 2017, and routine SRL registrations close in one to three working days.
Feature · Moldova SRL · Typical EU jurisdiction
- Minimum capital · None (1 MDL is permitted) · EUR 1,000 to 25,000
- Foreign ownership · 100% permitted · Often restricted
- Remote setup · Yes, via notarised and apostilled PoA · Rarely
- Standard CIT · 12% on profit · 19% to 25%
- IT-specific regime · 7% MITP turnover tax · Not standard
- Reinvested-profits regime · 0% for qualifying SMEs · Limited equivalents
Moldova also sits inside SEPA from October 2025, which removed a long-standing pain point for founders moving funds between Moldovan accounts and European counterparties. EU accession negotiations opened in June 2024, with screening completed in September 2025, which is gradually pulling the regulatory environment closer to EU norms.
For practitioner perspective from another jurisdiction with strict incorporation discipline, RPCS Switzerland's note on best practices for incorporating a business covers the structural questions that should be settled before the first filing, and most of those points apply equally to Moldova.
It is worth being clear-eyed. KYC for foreign-owned accounts takes longer than the company registration itself, and regulated activities such as payment services or insurance need separate authorisations. Neither is a blocker, but both should be planned in parallel with the SRL filing rather than after it.
The step-by-step ASP process
The ASP route is straightforward once the documents are prepared. The whole procedure typically takes one to three working days for a clean dossier, and the bottleneck is almost always document preparation rather than processing.
The sequence for a non-resident founder looks like this:
- Reserve a unique company name in Romanian, in line with Law 135/2007 naming rules
- Draft the constitutive act (founder decision and articles) setting out share structure, management and governance
- Prepare founder documents including notarised and apostilled passport copies and proof of address
- Declare beneficial ownership in line with Law 308/2017 on AML
- Grant power of attorney to a local representative if the founders are not in Moldova
- Submit to ASP for processing and IDNO issuance
- Open a corporate bank account once the IDNO is live
The IDNO, issued automatically on registration, is the company's identifier for fiscal and statistical purposes. ASP transmits the registration to SFS, CNAS and Statistica, so there is no separate post-registration filing for those bodies.
Stage · Action · Typical timeframe
- Pre-registration · Name reservation, drafting · 1 to 3 days
- Submission · ASP filing under PoA · 1 day
- Processing · ASP review and IDNO issuance · 1 to 3 working days
- Banking · Account opening, KYC review · 2 to 5 weeks
For remote founders, the power of attorney route is the practical path. The PoA is notarised and apostilled in the founder's country of residence, then used by the local representative for the in-person ASP and bank steps. No travel is required for routine registrations.
Tax and compliance for Moldovan SRLs
Once an SRL is registered, the IDNO triggers entry into the Moldovan tax system. The framework is set out in the Codul Fiscal al RM (Law 1163/1997), with administration by SFS.
The base rates a non-resident founder needs to know:
- Corporate income tax (CIT): 12% on taxable profit
- Dividend withholding tax: 6% at source on dividends paid to individuals
- VAT: 20% standard rate, with an 8% reduced rate for limited categories; the registration threshold is 1.5M MDL from 1 January 2026, rising to 1.7M MDL from 1 March 2026
- Personal income tax: 12% flat on individual income, including salaries
There are two structural alternatives to plain 12% CIT, and the right one depends on the model:
- 0% on reinvested profits for qualifying SMEs with turnover up to 100M MDL and up to 249 employees, excluding financial, insurance and trade activities (NACE sections G and K), FEZ and MITP residents, individual enterprises and farming households. The scheme has been extended through 2026.
- 7% MITP turnover tax for IT Park residents under Law 77/2016, with at least 70% of revenue from qualifying IT activities and a per-employee minimum of around MDL 5,220 per month for 2026. The regime is guaranteed by the state through 2035.
The regimes are alternatives, not stack-ups. MITP residents do not also use the 0% reinvested-profits rule. The choice is made before formation because it shapes payroll, contracts and licensing from day one.
Foreign founders are most often caught out by two compliance points. First, all foreign-issued documents need either an apostille (Hague Convention members) or full consular legalisation, plus a certified Romanian translation. This is mandatory at registration and again for banking. Second, beneficial ownership declarations under Law 308/2017 must be precise; ASP will not complete registration without a clean UBO disclosure.
What founders most often miss
The registration process is genuinely fast. The friction comes from what happens around it.
Banking is where timelines slip. Even with a complete PoA, KYC for foreign-owned accounts typically runs two to five weeks. Plan for a gap between IDNO issuance and a working bank account, and start the bank conversation in parallel with ASP filing rather than after it.
The MITP regime is powerful but unforgiving. Founders sometimes apply optimistically without tracking revenue mix. A sustained drop below the 70% IT-revenue threshold removes the company from the regime, and the per-employee floor can quietly produce a higher bill than the headline 7% suggests for small teams.
Moldova's EU accession track also matters. Standards in financial services, AML and data protection are tightening as the screening process completes and chapters open. For most founders this is positive over a three to five year horizon because it expands market access and contractual credibility, but it requires that compliance is built in from the start rather than retrofitted.
Next steps
Moldova is a practical incorporation environment for non-resident founders, but the structuring choice between the 12% standard CIT, the 0% reinvested-profits regime and the 7% MITP route should be settled in the discovery call before any documents are drafted. Start with the company formation overview, the bank account opening service, and the business licensing page if the activity is regulated.
Frequently asked questions
Can I incorporate a Moldovan SRL remotely?
Yes. A non-resident can register an SRL fully remotely under a power of attorney notarised and apostilled in the country of residence. No travel is required for routine registrations.
What is the minimum share capital?
There is no statutory minimum. The historical MDL 5,400 floor was abolished. Banks may request proof of operational funding at account opening as a matter of policy, not statute.
How long does the ASP process take?
Routine SRL registrations close in one to three working days at ASP after submission. Document preparation is usually the bottleneck, not processing.
Are there special tax regimes for IT companies?
Yes. MITP residents under Law 77/2016 pay 7% of turnover as a single tax replacing CIT, payroll PIT, social and medical contributions, local taxes, real estate tax and road tax. The threshold is 70% of revenue from qualifying IT activities, with a per-employee floor of around MDL 5,220 per month for 2026.
What compliance points trip foreign founders up most often?
Foreign-issued documents must be apostilled (or fully legalised for non-Hague countries) and translated into Romanian by a certified translator. Beneficial ownership declarations under Law 308/2017 must be complete. Banking KYC for foreign-owned accounts typically takes two to five weeks beyond ASP processing.
Related calculator: MITP 7% tax calculator. Slide your numbers and see the answer move.