How to hire and pay contractors in Moldova

How a foreign company hires and pays a contractor in Moldova

Sign a services contract that buys defined work, have the contractor record or invoice the income, and pay into their account in Moldova or a wallet. Moldova places no restriction on receiving payment for services from abroad, in lei or foreign currency.

Data labeling suits this when contributors choose tasks and are paid per accepted task. With Toku as contractor of record, Toku contracts each contributor, collects their invoices and pays them, and your company buys the finished work from Toku.

Contractor or employee: where Moldovan law draws the line

An individual employment contract is one where the person performs work in a specialty, qualification or position, follows the unit's internal rules, and the employer provides working conditions and pays a salary (Labour Code art. 45, as quoted by the State Labour Inspectorate). Work done under an employer's authority without an employment contract is undeclared work, which is fined per person (Labour Code art. 7^1 and Contravention Code art. 55^1).

Services contracts fall under the Civil Code. The State Labour Inspectorate sets out the difference: an employee is subordinate and follows instructions, while the parties to a services contract are equal, the client's main duty is to pay on time, and the contractor pays their own taxes and contributions. An employer may not use services contracts for work that belongs to a position on its staff list (ISM).

For a data labeling program, that means no positions or schedules, free choice of tasks and payment per accepted result.

Tax registration, invoices and the records you keep

Since 1 January 2026, resident individuals who provide services on their own can register as independent entrepreneurs (Law 228/2025, Tax Code ch. 10^4). The regime covers services on a set list, including software development, IT consulting, data processing and web portals, design and translation. The Public Services Agency registers them and passes the registration to the tax, health and social insurance authorities (art. 69^21).

They keep no accounts and file no tax returns: the State Tax Service tracks income through dedicated current accounts, which can be held in any currency permitted in Moldova, and calculates a single tax of 15% on annual income up to MDL 1,200,000 and 35% above it (arts. 69^22 and 69^25). The single tax covers income tax, social and health contributions, and the entrepreneur pays it monthly (art. 69^26). The Ministry of Finance summarises these changes and the VAT registration threshold of MDL 1.5 million.

The same law treats relations between an independent entrepreneur and some Moldovan businesses as employment for tax purposes (Tax Code art. 88(8)). Contractors whose services are not on the list use another registered form and report their own income.

What you keep as the payer: the contract, the contractor's registration details, invoices, accepted-task records and proof of payment, so the contractor can show the source of each payment. Toku keeps these for every contributor it contracts.

Payment rails, lei and currency rules

Payments for services between Moldova and abroad are current operations under the Law on Foreign Exchange Regulation (No. 62/2008), and residents may receive them without restriction (arts. 5 and 17), in lei or foreign currency (art. 4(5)). Residents can open foreign-currency accounts with licensed banks and payment accounts with Moldovan non-bank payment service providers (art. 4(9)).

The law has no general duty to convert foreign-currency service income into lei. Mandatory sale of foreign currency is only a possible temporary safeguard (art. 56). The National Bank of Moldova can ask for supporting documents for incoming payments (art. 25), so contractors should keep the contract and invoice for each one.

In practice: pay in lei, euros or US dollars to the contractor's own account in Moldova, or to a wallet if they choose stablecoins.

Paying contractors in Moldova in stablecoins

Yes, contractors in Moldova can be paid in stablecoins with Toku. Each contributor can choose USDC or USDT to their own wallet instead of a bank transfer.

Moldova published Law No. 180/2026 on the crypto-asset market in the Official Gazette on 17 September 2026. It follows the EU's MiCA regulation, covers stablecoins (asset-referenced and e-money tokens) and crypto-asset service providers, names the National Commission for Financial Markets and the National Bank as supervisors, and takes effect six months after publication.

Until then, the National Bank of Moldova position is that it has authorised no virtual currency and considers it unsuitable as a means of payment, but it does not prohibit individuals from holding or receiving it. Toku confirms the route for each person. To set it up, talk to us about paying in stablecoins in Moldova.

Making the IP transfer valid in Moldova

Moldova's Law No. 230/2022 on Copyright and Related Rights (AGEPI) says an assignment of economic rights can be proved only by its written form (art. 30(8)). A licence must be in writing and contain its required terms or it is void (art. 31(3)).

A qualified electronic signature, such as one issued through MSign, has the same legal value as a handwritten signature (Law No. 124/2022, art. 21(2)). Other e-signatures count as handwritten only where a law or a prior written e-signature agreement between the parties provides for it (art. 40), and the Civil Code expects electronic written acts to carry a qualified advanced signature unless agreed otherwise (art. 318(3)). Use a qualified signature, wet ink or a written e-signature agreement signed first.

• Name the rights, duration, extent and fee: an assignment missing any of them can be rescinded (art. 30(6)). List reproduction, modification, dataset compilation, AI and ML training and sublicensing, a worldwide territory and the full term.
• Don't rely on a work-for-hire default: under a commission contract the economic rights stay with the author unless the contract says otherwise (art. 34(1)), and an assignment of all future works is void (art. 30(7)).
• Pay adequately: authors are entitled to adequate and proportionate remuneration, and a lump sum can qualify (art. 35).
• Use the rights: the author can revoke for non-use, though not in the first two years (art. 39).
• Moral rights to authorship, name and integrity cannot be waived or transferred (art. 10(4)), so the contract should say how the work may be edited and whether it is credited.

Pay data labelers in Moldova with Toku

Toku Contributor Payouts contracts each labeler in Moldova as contractor or agent of record, collects a written assignment with a qualified e-signature and pays per accepted task in lei, euros, US dollars, USDC or USDT. Send task totals through the mass payouts API or a file, and every payout links to its contributor, agreement and tasks.

Toku pays contractors in 100+ countries. Contractor management lists at $19 per contractor per month on the pricing page, and Contributor Payouts is priced on the contributors you actually pay. The API is documented at docs.toku.com.