Your car's calendar: the yearly deadlines in Romania

Your car's year at a glance#

The first four rows are the same every year. The last two depend on your car's own dates, so it's worth writing them down once, in one place.

Car tax: 31 March and 30 September#

The Romanian Fiscal Code (Law 227/2015) says anyone who owns a vehicle that must be registered in Romania owes an annual tax to the local budget of the place where they live. Whoever owns the car on 31 December owes the tax for the whole of the following year.

• Payment: in two equal instalments, by 31 March and by 30 September inclusive.
• Small amounts: if the tax is 50 lei or less, you pay it in full by the first deadline.
• The discount: the local council may grant up to 10% off for paying in full by 31 March. It isn't guaranteed: check your town's decision.
• The amount: it depends on engine capacity and Euro emission standard, under the Fiscal Code and the local council's decision.

You pay at your town's local tax office. Many town halls also take payment online; check their website for the options and the amount you owe.

Winter tyres: what the law requires#

Romania has no fixed date from which winter tyres become mandatory. The traffic code (OUG 195/2002) ties the obligation to road conditions: when the road is covered in snow, ice or black ice, the car must have winter tyres.

• What counts as winter tyres: under the traffic code, tyres approved as winter tyres.
• The fine: driving on a road with snow, ice or black ice without winter tyres is a class IV fine, between 9 and 20 fine units (puncte-amendă). One fine unit is 5% of the national gross minimum base wage.
• The registration certificate: the police may also retain it in the same situation.

Since the first snow comes unannounced, the simplest thing is to book the change in October, while shops still have free slots. In November, after the first black ice, the queues grow. The markings and tread depth winter tyres need are in our winter tyres guide.

Back to summer tyres#

The traffic code doesn't require summer tyres, but if you have two sets, spring is the time to switch. When the set goes on, ask for a pressure check and wheel balancing; when the other comes off, look for wear or cuts and put the winter set away clean.

If you have no room for the set that isn't on the car, some shops will store it in a tyre hotel until the next season. Ask when you book.

First aid kit and fire extinguisher#

The traffic code requires motor vehicles (except mopeds and motorcycles, categories AM, A1, A2 and A), as well as agricultural or forestry tractors and trams, to carry an approved first aid kit, two reflective warning triangles and a fire extinguisher.

The triangles last for years. The first aid kit and the fire extinguisher, however, have an expiry date printed on them: medical supplies degrade, and the extinguisher has to work exactly when you need it. Look for the date now, while the boot is open.

Open the boot and check the dates on the first aid kit and the extinguisher. If either has passed or runs out this year, put it on your shopping list.

ITP, RCA and rovinietă#

The other deadlines don't fall on the same date every year: they depend on when you last had the ITP, took out the policy or bought the rovinietă. We cover them one by one in the guide to ITP, RCA and rovinietă deadlines, and what's checked at the inspection and how to prepare in the ITP guide.

What matters for the calendar: these dates move with you. If you take the ITP early or switch insurers, update the date, so you don't rely on an old one.

How CariX keeps your calendar#

In the free driver account, on your car, the yearly deadlines sit together with the documents:

• The tax: under “Other deadlines” you tick “Tax paid for…” once you've paid. Until you tick it, you get an email on 1 and 25 March.
• Tyres: with “Tyre reminders” on, you get an email on 15 October for winter tyres and on 15 March for summer tyres.
• First aid kit and fire extinguisher: enter the expiry date and you get an email 30, 14 and 7 days and one day before.
• ITP, RCA, CASCO and rovinietă: CariX works out the expiry date from what you enter and sends an email reminder at the same intervals. “Book” in the ITP reminder takes you to the search for ITP stations.

You only get reminders for the dates you've entered. It takes a few minutes once, and after that the calendar keeps itself.