Tax Changes in 2018

Amendments to several tax and related laws were adopted at the end of 2017, with an aim to provide incentives to companies, further align Serbian tax laws with EU law, and resolve some of the tax issues, which existed in practice. Most of the changes are applicable as of 1 January 2018.

These changes will affect mostly concession and investment sectors, foreign service providers, industries with high proportion of intangible assets, start-up companies and all the companies in Serbia that plan to increase their workforce in the foreseeable future.

Some of the most important changes are:

• Under certain conditions, supply of goods and services performed between a concessionaire and a concession grantor shall be considered outside of scope of VAT
• New rules were introduced for depreciation of intangible assets for tax purposes (straight line depreciation method in proportion to the useful life of the asset)

• The duration of the existing tax incentives, in the form of salary tax and social security contributions refunds for newly employed persons, was extended until 31 December 2019
• The tax exempt amount of salaries was increased to RSD 15,000
• As of 1 April 2018, a special VAT regime shall be applicable for trade with investment gold
• As of 1 April 2018, withholding tax on services of non-resident taxpayers shall be limited only to market research, accounting, auditing, legal and business consulting services, irrespective of where the services were rendered or used
• In the period from 1 October 2018 until 31 December 2020, start-ups will have the opportunity to use tax incentives in the form of exemptions from payment of salary tax and mandatory social security contributions for their shareholder(s) and up to nine employees. These tax incentives may be used in the period of twelve months following the date of incorporation of the start-up company.

For more information on these and other recent tax changes, and how they can affect your business, please contact Ivana Blagojević and Nebojša Pejin.