An efficient functioning of a tax system is ensured by proper cooperation of the central and local authorities of the state. Legal regulation of such cooperation on the national level is based on rules on the division of administrative powers between central and local authorities, the allocation of taxing rights and the distribution of tax profits to the relevant budgets. Furthermore international norms are also relevant to the authority of local bodies in tax matters. Such rules concern, notably, the principle of self-determination of peoples and the European charter of local self-government. The present article represents a comparative analysis of the aforementioned rules on the example of the Republic of Moldova and Romania.