If you are a foreign citizen working in Serbia, this text serves to familiarize you with your tax rights and obligations. Whether you are employed, self-employed, or a digital nomad, i.e. a referred person, timely regulation of income tax obligations is an integral part of your stay in Serbia.
Personal income tax is calculated and paid in accordance with the Law on Personal Income Tax.
Earnings, for tax purposes, are earnings that are earned on the basis of an employment relationship, defined by the law regulating employment relationships and other income of an employee.
Income tax is calculated and paid at the rate of 10%. The tax base is the salary minus the monthly non-taxable amount. For 2024, the non-taxable amount is 25,000 dinars per month. This amount is adjusted by the annual index of consumer prices in the calendar year preceding the year in which the adjustment is made, according to the data of the state body responsible for statistics.
The employer, as the payer of the income, calculates and pays the withholding tax, by calculating, suspending and paying the tax for each taxpayer and for each individually paid income to the prescribed single payment account at the time of income payment, in accordance with the regulations in force on the day of income payment, unless otherwise prescribed by the Law on Personal Income Tax.
Contributions for compulsory social security (for pension and disability insurance, for health insurance and for unemployment insurance) are calculated and paid on the basis of earnings.
The rates at which contributions are calculated and paid are as follows:
We emphasize that there is a prescribed relief for employment of a newly settled taxpayer, in the form of a reduction of the tax base and contributions for compulsory social security by 70% based on the salary of a newly settled taxpayer, who in the period of 24 months preceding the day of concluding the employment contract with a qualified employer did not predominantly reside in the territory of the Republic of Serbia or who at the time of concluding the employment contract with a qualified employer was less than 40 years old, and who in the period of 12 months preceding the conclusion of the employment contract with a qualified employer predominantly resided outside the territory of the Republic of Serbia for further education, i.e. professional training. The relief has been in force as of March 1, 2020 and is being realized for a period of 5 years starting from the date of conclusion of the employment contract. The right to a reduction of the tax base and contributions for compulsory social security based on earnings is granted to a newly settled taxpayer who, simultaneously with establishing an employment relationship or within a reasonable period after establishing an employment relationship, resides in the territory of the Republic of Serbia and who fulfils the condition to be considered its tax resident and insured person.
Persons who register independent activity in the Republic of Serbia, as entrepreneurs, are subject to income taxation at the rate of 10%.
The tax base consists of taxable profit or flat-rate income, depending on the choice of the taxpayer and the fulfilment of the prescribed conditions. Tax on income from self-employment on taxable profit is paid through self-taxation, while tax on flat-rate income is paid according to the decision of the Tax Administration.
Based on income from self-employment, entrepreneurs pay contributions for compulsory social security (pension and disability insurance, health insurance, and unemployment insurance).
The rates at which contributions are calculated and paid are as follows:
Detailed information on tax obligations for the self-employed is available on the website of the Tax Administration and in the Tax Information Sheet for self-employed natural persons, which you can download here.
If you are a foreign natural person — a non-resident, and you receive income from copyright and related rights and on the basis of an agreed fee for work on the territory of the Republic of Serbia from a payer of income from abroad (legal entity, entrepreneur or natural person) or a domestic natural person, i.e. from another person who, when paying income, does not calculate and pay obligations on the basis of taxes and contributions in the Republic of Serbia, you have the obligation to independently calculate and pay income tax and contributions for compulsory social security (contribution for pension and disability insurance and contribution for health insurance).
Taxes and contributions on income from copyright and related rights and contracted fees for work performed, on which tax is paid through self-taxation, are paid quarterly based on the income generated in that period.
You can choose one of the two alternative ways of recognizing standard costs in RSD amount and determining the base of personal income tax and the base of contributions for pension, disability and health insurance.
First Model
Second Model
For each quarter, there is the possibility of choosing a different tax base, where taxpayers determine and pay tax for each quarter, and the tax return is submitted within 30 days from the end of the quarter, which is also the deadline for tax payment. Tax information and required forms are available here.
If you are referred to work in Serbia by a foreign employer, taxes and contributions for compulsory social security are calculated and paid on your earnings, unless international agreements provide for a different regulation of these obligations.
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