Law of the Republic of Moldova on State Fee

Law of the Republic of Moldova No. 213/2023 is the main legislative act regulating the collection of State fee and Stamp duty.

The law was adopted on July 31, 2023, entered into force on January 1, 2024, replacing previous legislation and is binding.

State fee is a monetary amount collected by government agencies and other specifically authorized entities from individuals and legal entities in whose interests actions are carried out or documents are issued.

Stamp duty is a one-time fee levied on individuals and legal entities for initiating legal proceedings in a civil case or administrative dispute, as well as for each complaint against the decision of the examining magistrate in proceedings concerning an offense, both at first instance and during the appeal process.

Object of State fee Assessment

a) applications for summons, counterclaims, applications for main intervention, applications for appeal, applications for redress and other applications provided for in Annex No. 1, applications for challenging the acts and actions of the court executor (bailiff), as well as for applications for the release by the court of copies (duplicates) of documents, according to Annex No. 1;
b) state registration of civil status facts and events and the issuance of civil status documents;
c) declaration of loss of the passport of a citizen of the Republic of Moldova, examination of the application for acquiring citizenship of the Republic of Moldova, by recognition, by naturalization, in the interests of the republic, and for regaining citizenship of the Republic of Moldova; issuance of an invitation to the Republic of Moldova; issuance or extension of visas; examination of the application for granting or extending the right of temporary residence; examination of the application for the right to permanent residence; granting or extending the right to temporary residence for work purposes; examination of the application for the granting or extending the right to stay; issuance of repatriation confirmation; issuance of temporary or permanent residence permit; issuance of identity card for stateless persons; issuance of travel document for stateless persons; the test for assessing the level of knowledge of the Romanian language;
d) registration at home and/or at temporary residence;
e) registration of institutions providing audiovisual media services;
f) issuance of hunting and fishing permits;
g) registration of the pledge, issuance of an extract from the Register of Movable Real Guarantees or provision of any other information regarding the registration of the pledge;
h) drawing up notarial acts by notaries and other persons authorized by law;
i) granting permission to use the official or historical name of the state in the product brand and/or in the service brand, as well as in the industrial design or model;
j) affixing the apostille to the act issued in the name or in the interest of natural persons (citizens of the Republic of Moldova, foreign citizens and stateless persons) and legal entities;
k) issuing the certificate of registration of the public symbol, issuing copies and extracts from the General Armorial of the Republic of Moldova in the name or in the interest of the owners;
l) granting permission to use the official or historical name of the state or abbreviations or derivatives of the official or historical name of the state in the name of the legal entity for profit;
m) filing appeals by economic operators within the framework of public, sectoral and concession procurement procedures.

The rates of State fees are presented in Appendix 1 to Law No. 213/2023.

Exemption from payment of State fee and Stamp duty

Extract (document fragment)

Natural persons – in actions regarding reinstatement in service, claiming amounts of remuneration for work and other claims related to employment relationships
In actions regarding the collection of alimony (maintenance pension)
In actions regarding the approval of national and international adoption
In actions regarding the repair of material and/or moral damage caused by a crime and/or contravention
Claimant are exempt from state duty and stamp duty in actions regarding the application of protection measures and in actions regarding the repair of material and/or moral damage caused by acts of domestic violence
In actions regarding the repair of damage caused by injury to bodily integrity or other damage to health or by death
In actions claiming the repair of damage caused by environmental pollution and the irrational use of natural resources
In actions regarding the protection of consumer rights
In actions regarding the violation of the legislation on the protection of personal data
In actions regarding acts of discrimination
In administrative litigation actions, with the exception of point 1.15 of Annex No. 1
(requirements relating to the collection of moral and material damages formulated in administrative litigation cases)
In actions regarding the collection of legal costs incurred in previous civil proceedings, regardless of the procedural capacity in those proceedings
In actions regarding the protection of intellectual property
In actions regarding subsidiary liability filed within the framework of insolvency proceedings
Minors in cases concerning the defense of their rights.
Bailiffs and bodies exercising duties in tax administration, regardless of their procedural status.

The full list of exemptions is provided in Appendix 2 of Law No. 213/2023.

The State Tax Service is the body authorized to verify the correct collection of State fee.

Responsibility for the correctness of the collection of state tax

(1) The responsibility established by the legislation for the correctness of the collection of state tax and for its full and timely payment to the state budget is borne by persons with responsible positions within the institutions that collect the state tax. For the delay in the transfer to the budget of the state tax, the State Tax Service charges a late payment surcharge (penalty) according to the rate established by the Fiscal Code no. 1163/1997.

(2) The execution of actions or the issuance of documents without the collection of the state tax shall entail the liability of the responsible persons, with the collection from their account of an amount of money equivalent to the uncollected state tax and the obligation to pay a penalty according to the law on the state budget for the current year, but not higher than the uncollected state tax.