Moldova’s Innovation Technology Park has become the primary route for tech businesses operating in or relocating to the country. Here’s what the 2026 regime actually offers, who qualifies, and how the registration works.
By the end of 2025, the Moldova Innovation Technology Park (MITP) crossed a threshold that would have seemed implausible at its launch in 2018: aggregate turnover of MDL 18.9 billion — approximately USD 1 billion, an increase of 24.3% year-on-year. The park now hosts 2,725 resident companies from 44 countries, employing close to 26,000 specialists. The average salary inside the park sits around MDL 50,000 per month, making it the highest-paying segment of the Moldovan labour market.
For technology companies considering where to base their operations in 2026 — whether for a new entity, relocation, or expansion — the question is not whether MITP works. The question is whether your business fits, what registration involves, and what the regime actually delivers in practice.
BULR — Brodsky Uskov Looper Reed & Partners is an official partner of Moldova IT Park and has supported international IT companies through residency registration since the park’s first years.
What MITP actually is
MITP operates as a virtual park. Unlike traditional technology parks, residency does not require a physical presence inside park premises. Companies operate from anywhere in Moldova, and — under amendments to Law 77/2016 — eligible activities can be performed by employees working remotely within or outside the country. This was the deliberate design choice that made MITP the first e-Park in Europe, and it’s the reason a software company in Chișinău, a BPO operation in Bălți, and a remote-first international team can all hold the same residency status.
The legal framework is Law No. 77/2016 on Information Technology Parks. The operational term has been extended from the original 10 years to 20 years, securing the regime until 2037, with the state’s guarantee on the 7% unified tax structure running until 2035. For long-term planning purposes, this is the most important fact about MITP: the regime is locked in for the foreseeable horizon.
The 7% unified tax: what it covers and how it’s calculated
The single tax replaces a stack of separate obligations. Under the unified rate, IT Park residents pay one tax that covers:
- Corporate income tax
- Personal income tax for employees
- Mandatory social insurance contributions (CNAS — both employer and employee portions)
- Mandatory health insurance contributions (CNAM)
- Local taxes
- Real estate tax
- Road tax for company-registered vehicles
VAT, excise duties, and customs are separate and follow standard Moldovan rules.
The calculation works as follows:
- Standard rate: 7% of monthly turnover (excluding VAT)
- Minimum floor: 30% of the forecast average monthly salary in the economy, per employee. For 2026, the average salary is MDL 17,400, putting the minimum at MDL 5,220 per employee per month
- Apply whichever is higher — the 7% calculation or the per-employee minimum
Two examples make this concrete. A company with monthly revenue of MDL 500,000 and 5 employees pays 7% (MDL 35,000) because that exceeds the minimum (5 × MDL 5,220 = MDL 26,100). A company with monthly revenue of MDL 40,000 and 5 employees pays the minimum (MDL 26,100) because that exceeds 7% of revenue (MDL 2,800).
In effect, the regime is most efficient for companies with monthly revenue per employee above roughly EUR 3,600. Below that, the per-employee minimum drives effective tax rates above 7%.
There’s one further subtlety worth noting. Although the 7% covers social contributions, insured monthly income for IT Park employees is calculated on 68% of the average economy-wide salary — MDL 11,832 in 2026. This caps the base used to calculate social benefits, regardless of actual gross salary. For high earners, this means future pension and disability benefits will be calculated on a lower base than under the standard regime. It’s a feature of the trade-off, not a defect, but it should be understood at the outset.
Eligibility: what qualifies and what doesn’t
A company must meet four conditions to obtain MITP resident status.
Legal registration in Moldova. The applicant must be a Moldovan-registered legal entity in good standing — typically an SRL (Limited Liability Company) — with no insolvency or liquidation proceedings pending. Foreign companies cannot apply directly; they need a Moldovan subsidiary.
Activity composition. At least 70% of sales revenue must derive from eligible IT activities listed in Law 77/2016. Compliance is monitored monthly with annual verification, and a two-month tolerance per year is permitted for periods when non-eligible revenue temporarily pushes the IT share below 70%.
Financial stability. No insolvency, liquidation, or restructuring proceedings.
Legal compliance. No active litigation challenging MITP eligibility, and compliance with applicable Moldovan laws.
The law sets no minimum employee requirement — a point worth emphasising because outdated guidance still circulates suggesting a five-employee floor. There is no statutory headcount minimum.
Eligible activities under Law 77/2016 cover:
- Software development and services — custom development, programming, modification, testing, support; software product editing (games, operating systems, corporate applications); web development; SaaS platforms; mobile applications
- Technology consulting — IT consultancy, system planning, computer systems management, technology project management
- Advanced technology — cybersecurity, data processing and analytics, cloud computing, AI and machine learning development, blockchain
- Creative and digital industries — game development, digital design and multimedia, web portal operations
- Hardware and technical services — microprocessor and integrated circuit production, specialised design using high-performance computing (3D, CAD, rendering)
- Research and development — technology research, R&D project implementation, technical documentation
- BPO additions (effective February 2024) — call centre activities (NACE 82.20) and labour supply services (NACE 78.30), both exclusively for export
The BPO expansion has materially broadened MITP’s reach beyond pure software — call-centre and dispatching services now rank among the highest-earning segments inside the park.
What MITP doesn’t apply to
A few important exclusions worth knowing upfront:
- Digital Nomad Visa holders cannot use the IT Park regime. The DNV (Law 144/2025, operational since September 2025) is an individual residence route; MITP requires a registered Moldovan company, which DNV holders are expressly prohibited from establishing
- VAT is separate from the unified tax. If turnover exceeds MDL 1.7 million (the threshold from March 1, 2026), separate VAT registration is required. Export of services is generally zero-rated; domestic services follow standard VAT rules
- Withholding tax on payments to non-residents follows standard Moldovan rules, with relief available under double taxation treaties (Moldova has a network of around 50)
Registration: the actual process
The procedure is genuinely streamlined — but it is not zero-effort, and the steps need to be sequenced correctly.
Step 1 — Company formation. Establish an SRL in Moldova with appropriate activity codes covering intended IT operations. Obtain legal registration and tax identification. Typical timeline: 3–5 business days.
Step 2 — Banking and electronic signature. Open a corporate bank account with a Moldovan institution and obtain a qualified electronic signature for digital filings. Typical timeline: 1–2 business days.
Step 3 — IT Park application. Submit the application through the official MITP platform. No business plan and no application fee are required. Required documents include the company registration certificate, articles of association, tax registration confirmation, bank account confirmation, electronic signature certificate, and a declaration of intended eligible activities.
Step 4 — Approval and contract. Official confirmation typically arrives within 7 working days. The residency contract is signed with MITP administration, and the unified tax regime applies from the following month.
Total realistic timeline: 10–14 business days from company formation to active resident status. Companies bringing remote founders without prior Moldovan presence should add time for Power of Attorney arrangements, document apostilling, and translation.
IT Visa: bringing in foreign talent
For technology professionals and managers from outside Moldova, the IT Visa programme offers fast-track work and residence permits, with simplified documentation processed through MITP administration. Preliminary approval is issued by MITP, with final processing through the General Inspectorate for Migration.
Minimum salary for IT Visa applicants is pegged to the national average monthly salary — MDL 17,400 for 2026. Family residence permits are available for the same duration as the principal applicant.
The exact permit duration and renewal mechanics vary by category and should be confirmed against current MITP guidance at application time.
Ongoing compliance
Residency is not a one-time event. The monthly cycle covers:
- Monthly tax declarations by the 25th of each month
- Revenue tracking to maintain the 70% eligible-activity threshold
- Employee notifications regarding tax and insurance arrangements
- Change notifications for any modifications to statutory documents
The annual audit is mandatory for all IT Park residents — regardless of size, turnover, or employee count. The purpose is verification of correct unified tax calculation. For companies that have not previously dealt with statutory audit, this is the most consistently underestimated compliance cost when planning for MITP residency.
Why the regime works — and where it doesn’t
MITP’s appeal is genuine, but it isn’t universal. The regime works best for:
- Software exporters with monthly revenue per employee above roughly EUR 3,600
- BPO operations serving export markets, particularly call centres and shared services
- International groups establishing Moldovan engineering or back-office hubs
- Mid-sized IT companies that have outgrown the simplified small business regime but want predictable taxation
It works less well for:
- Pre-revenue startups with employees but no income — the per-employee minimum becomes punitive
- Companies with primarily domestic Moldovan revenue at small scale
- Individual freelancers without a registered legal entity (the DNV route fits some of these, but not all)
The regime is also fundamentally export-oriented: roughly 88.5% of MITP residents’ eligible sales in 2025 came from exports. Companies whose business is primarily Moldovan-domestic should evaluate the simplified small business regime alongside MITP before committing.
What BULR delivers
For companies considering MITP residency, BULR’s role typically covers:
- Eligibility assessment — review of intended activities against Law 77/2016 categories
- Company formation and corporate structuring optimised for IT Park residency
- Bank account opening and electronic signature procurement
- MITP application preparation and submission
- IT Visa processing for foreign founders, key personnel, and family
- Ongoing compliance support — monthly filings, annual audit coordination, regulatory updates
The integrated practice matters here. IT Park residency intersects with corporate law (entity structure), tax (transfer pricing for intra-group flows, VAT for export services), employment law (IT Visa, contractor classification), and increasingly with data protection (Law 195/2024 takes effect August 23, 2026, and applies to all data processing regardless of MITP status). When these sit inside one firm, decisions are coordinated rather than fragmented across providers.
Getting started
The most useful first conversation isn’t about registration mechanics — it’s about whether MITP is the right fit for your specific business model, revenue structure, and growth plans. That assessment usually takes one call to clarify. The registration that follows, if it makes sense, runs on the timeline described above.
Contact BULR’s team to discuss eligibility and benefits for your business.
We don’t just register companies — we build foundations for sustainable operation in Moldova’s technology ecosystem.