The Ministry of Finance estimates that it will collect approximately 8.2 billion lei from banking sector taxation in 2026, an amount that includes taxes paid by commercial banks and payments from the net revenues of the National Bank of Romania (BNR).
Even so, total state revenues from this sector are expected to be lower than in 2025, according to data included in the draft budget. Estimated revenues for 2026 would be approximately one billion lei lower than those in 2025, when the state benefited from larger amounts transferred by the central bank. The main explanation is the reduction in the amounts transferred by the NBR. “Payments from the BNR’s net revenues to the budget are expected to halve this year, to about 2 billion lei, after exceeding 4 billion lei last year,” explain analysts at Ziarul Financiar.
In contrast, the contribution of commercial banks to the budget is estimated to increase. “The cumulative amount that will reach the state treasury from the two taxes on earnings paid by them is estimated for 2026 at 6.3 billion lei, up 26% compared to 2025,” according to the draft budget.
The amount comes from two types of taxes. Almost 2.7 billion lei would be collected from the additional tax on bank turnover, and about 3.55 billion lei from the tax on credit institutions’ profits.
The tax on bank turnover weighs more after last year’s increase. The tax was doubled in the second half of 2025, reaching 4%, which largely explains the estimated increase in budget revenues from this type of tax.
Even under these conditions, the banking sector remains one of the most profitable in the economy. „The banking system remained with a consistent profit in 2025, of about 16 billion lei, after in 2024 the profit had exceeded 14 billion lei,” notes the cited source. The results show that banks managed to maintain their high profits even in a more difficult economic context, characterized by a slowdown in the economy, persistent inflation, high interest rates and large budget deficits.
The estimates in the draft budget could differ from the actual revenues, economists warn. „It remains to be seen whether the money that will ultimately reach the budget on account of these taxes from the banking sector will be in line with the authorities’ estimates in the draft budget or will be even below the forecast level,” given that the evolution of revenues depends on the dynamics of lending and the evolution of the economy in a tense macroeconomic and geopolitical context.