In brief
Property in Romania passes as a gift only by a deed of gift (contract de donație) signed before a notary. A gift to parents, children, spouses and relatives up to the third degree is exempt from Romanian transfer tax, and in Israel a gift to a relative who is an Israeli resident is exempt from capital gains tax. The hidden price: the count of holding years for the purpose of Romanian sale tax starts again on the day of the gift, and control of the property passes to the children.
Key takeaways
- 1A gift without a notarial deed is void ab initio (article 1011 of the Romanian Civil Code), even between parents and children.
- 2A gift to relatives up to the third degree and to a spouse is exempt from Romanian transfer tax (article 111 of the Fiscal Code); you pay the notary and registration of 0.15% of the value.
- 3Anyone who received property as a gift and sells it within three years of the date of the gift will pay 3% of the transaction value, even if the parents held it for years.
- 4In Israel, a gift to a relative who is an Israeli resident is exempt from capital gains tax, and the recipient steps into the donor's shoes; a child who is a non-resident does not benefit from the exemption.
- 5Property in the name of a minor is difficult to sell or mortgage: prior approval of the guardianship court is required.
How do you transfer property in Romania to your children now?
By a deed of gift (contract de donație) signed before a notary in Romania. Article 1011 of the Romanian Civil Code provides that a gift not made by notarial deed is void ab initio, so there is no oral gift and no gift by private document, even within the family.
Many parents ask why they should wait for inheritance if things can be arranged during their lifetime. It is a legitimate question, but a gift is very difficult to reverse. Before deciding, it is worth understanding what it saves, what it costs and what it changes in control over the property.
A gift to relatives up to the third degree and to a spouse is exempt from Romanian transfer tax (article 111 of the Fiscal Code); you pay the notary and registration of 0.15% of the value.
A gift now or an inheritance later: what are the differences?
| Issue | Lifetime gift | Inheritance |
|---|---|---|
| The procedure in Romania | Deed of gift before a notary | Succession procedure before a notary and certificate of inheritance |
| Romanian transfer tax, relatives up to the 3rd degree | Exempt | Exempt if the procedure is completed within two years, otherwise 1% |
| Romanian transfer tax, a non-relative | 3% or 1%, as on a sale | The same two-year rule |
| Who controls the property after the transfer | The children, from the day of signing | The parents, until death |
| Tax in Israel on the day of transfer | Exempt for a gift to a relative who is an Israeli resident, under section 97(a)(5) | There is no inheritance tax in Israel |
The decisive difference is not in the tax line but in the control line: a gift transfers the property today, and with it the decisions about it.
What does a gift of property in Romania cost?
Between relatives, mainly the notary and registration. Article 111 of the Fiscal Code (Law 227/2015) exempts from gift tax gifts between spouses and between relatives and relatives by marriage up to and including the third degree.
- Degrees of kinship: first - parents and children; second - grandparents, grandchildren and siblings; third - uncles and aunts, nephews and nieces, great-grandchildren and great-grandparents.
- A gift to a non-relative: taxed like a sale - 3% if the donor held the property for up to three years, and 1% after three years.
- Notary's fee: according to a scale graduated by the value of the property, plus VAT. According to one notary's office in Bucharest, for a property worth 300,000 lei this amounts to approximately 3,705 lei before VAT; for a more expensive property the amount is higher, but the marginal rate decreases.
- Registration: registering the recipients in the land register of ANCPI (the National Agency for Cadastre and Land Registration) costs 0.15% of the value for a private individual.
Why might the gift make a later sale more expensive?
Because the exemption applies to the gift itself, not to what happens after it. When the person who received the property sells it, the rate of Romanian transfer tax is determined by the time that has passed since the date of the deed of gift, not since the day the parents bought it.
Parents who held a house for ten years would have paid 1% had they sold it themselves. If they gave it to their daughter, and she sold it a year later, she will pay 3% of the transaction value.
Anyone planning a sale in the coming years should examine the gift against the timeline of the sale, and not only against inheritance considerations.
What happens on the Israeli side?
Under the Income Tax Ordinance, a gift is treated as a "sale" for capital gains tax purposes, and property in Romania held by an Israeli resident is assessed under the Ordinance. Section 97(a)(5) exempts a gift to an individual who is a relative, or to another individual where the assessing officer is satisfied that the gift was made in good faith, provided that the recipient is not a non-resident.
- The child continues the tax history. Under the definition of "date of acquisition" in section 88, a person who received property as an exempt gift steps into the donor's shoes: the date of acquisition and the cost are those of the person who acquired the property otherwise than by gift. The tax is deferred, not erased.
- A child living abroad. If the son or daughter is a non-resident under Israeli law, the exemption does not apply, and the tax should be examined before signing.
Which documents are brought to the notary, and can you sign from Israel?
According to lists published by notary offices in Romania, these are the documents usually required:
- Identity documents of the donors and of the recipients.
- The original purchase contract and an up-to-date extract from the land register.
- A certificate from the local authority that there are no tax debts on the property.
- Documents proving kinship, such as birth and marriage certificates, because they are the basis for the exemption.
- The mandatory home insurance policy (PAD, compulsory insurance against natural disasters).
An Israeli document is submitted with an apostille and a certified translation into Romanian. Anyone who cannot attend grants a special power of attorney, signed at a Romanian consulate or before a notary in Israel with an apostille, and a representative signs on his or her behalf.
Can you give the house and continue to live in it?
Yes. Romanian law recognises a gift with reservation of a life usufruct (rezerva dreptului de uzufruct viager): the children receive ownership, and the parents retain the right to live in and use the property for the rest of their lives. It is also possible to impose obligations on the recipient, for example to care for the donor, but this complicates the procedure when the recipient is a minor.
What do you need to know when the recipient is a minor, or when there is a mortgage?
- A minor. A minor can receive a gift without obligations, and the parents sign on his or her behalf without court approval. A gift with obligations requires such approval. And under article 144 of the Civil Code, the sale or mortgaging of a minor's property requires prior approval of the guardianship court, which is granted only when the act meets a need of the minor or is clearly beneficial to him or her.
- A mortgage. An encumbrance on the property remains on it even after the gift. The bank must be approached before the notary.
- A villa held under a Superficie right. The gift transfers ownership of the building and the right to use the land, not the land itself.
When is it better not to make a gift?
- When you may need the property or its proceeds. After signing, the decision to sell or rent out belongs to the children.
- When a sale is planned soon, because the three-year clock is reset.
- When the child is a non-resident, because the Israeli exemption does not apply.
- When there are several children and no overall plan. If the succession is governed by Romanian law, a gift to one child may infringe the reserved portion of the others, and a reserved heir may seek to reduce it after death.
On the other hand, a gift has real advantages: the children are provided for early, a succession procedure in another country is avoided, and property that a child received as a gift from his or her parents is in Romania, as a rule, his or her separate property and not joint property with the spouse, unless the donor provided otherwise (article 340 of the Civil Code). Under Israeli law too, a gift received by one of the spouses is excluded from the balancing of resources.
What to do before signing and how we assist
Before a gift, it is advisable to check the tax residence of each recipient, map out the timeline of a possible sale, decide whether to retain a right of use and coordinate with the bank if there is a mortgage. We help build the plan under both legal systems, prepare the documents and the power of attorney from Israel and coordinate with the tax adviser. The deed of gift itself is signed and registered in Romania by a notary holding a local licence.
What is stated here is general information as of October 2026 and is not legal or tax advice for a specific case. A gift of property is a decision that is difficult to undo, and it depends on the recipient's tax residence and on the law that will govern the succession.
Frequently asked questions
Is there tax on a gift of property to children in Romania?
No. Under article 111 of the Romanian Fiscal Code, a gift between parents and children, between spouses and between relatives up to the third degree is exempt from transfer tax. You pay the notary's fee and registration in the land register, 0.15% of the value for a private individual.
If my daughter sells property she received as a gift, how much tax will she pay in Romania?
The rate is determined by the time since the date of the deed of gift: 3% of the transaction value within three years, and 1% thereafter. The period during which the parents held the property does not count for her.
Is a gift of property abroad to a child exempt from tax in Israel?
Under section 97(a)(5) of the Income Tax Ordinance, a gift to an individual who is a relative is exempt from capital gains tax if the recipient is not a non-resident. The recipient steps into the donor's shoes as regards the date of acquisition and the cost, so the tax is deferred to the future sale.
Can the deed of gift be signed without travelling to Romania?
Yes. The deed is signed before a notary in Romania, but you can grant a special power of attorney at a Romanian consulate or before a notary in Israel, with an apostille and a certified translation, and a representative will sign on your behalf.
Can I transfer the house to my children and continue living in it?
Yes. It is common to give property as a gift while reserving a life usufruct (uzufruct viager). The children receive ownership, and the parents continue to live in and use the house.
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The information in this guide is general in nature and does not constitute legal or tax advice on any specific transaction. Every transaction is assessed on its own facts.