Accounting Rules

Tax Year: The financial year begins on 1 January and ends on 31 December of the same year.
Accounting Standards: All enterprises from the largest listed companies to the smallest unincorporated proprietorships must comply with IFRS.
Accounting Regulation Bodies: International Accounting Standards Board
Accounting Reports: All accounting operations must be recorded in the journal (dnevnik) in chronological order or according to the order of receipt of the accounting documents. In the ledger (glavna knjiga) all the accounts appear (changes concerning ownership, liabilities, capital, revenue and expenditure). This document is a basis for creating financial reports. The annexes (pomocne knjige) are analytical documents for non-material investments : real estate, equipment and machines, long term financial investments, stocks etc.
Companies must draw up financial reports for the current year : a balance sheet of current financial standing (bilans stanja), a statement of income (bilans uspeha), report on liquid assets (isvestaj o tokovima gotovine), report on changes concerning capital (izvestaj o promenama na kapitalu), explanatory notes (napomene uz finansijske izvestaje) and annexes (statisticki aneks).
Publication Requirements: The obligations concerning publication and audit depend on the size of the company.
All companies must file their financial reports with the National Bank of Serbia, by the end of February for small companies and by the end of April for medium-sized and large companies. The Bank handles these reports and publishes the financial standing of the companies.
Professional Accountancy Bodies: The Association of Accountants and Auditors of Serbia
Certification and Auditing: Auditing is mandatory for large and medium-sized companies, it is optional for small companies which can be audited by the fiscal administration. The audit must be carried out according to international standards, by members of the Chamber of Certified Auditors (Komora ovlascenih revizora). You can contact an external auditor: Deloitte, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Ernst & Young, KPMG.
Accounting News: IAS Plus

Tax Rates

Consumption Taxes

Nature of the Tax: Value Added Tax.
Tax Rate: 18%
Reduced Tax Rate: A reduced rate of 8% is applied on basic foodstuffs, newspapers, community services, etc.
Goods for export, insurance, re-insurance or letting of an appartment are exempt from VAT.
Other Consumption Taxes: Imports are subject to VAT in the same way as national production (except in the free zones). Excise duties are levied on producers and importers of the following goods: oil derivatives; tobacco products; alcoholic beverages; coffee.

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Corporate Taxes

Company Tax: 0.1
Capital Gains Taxation: Long-term capital gains are included in taxable revenue and are therefore taxed at the same rate as Corporate Tax.
Main Allowable Deductions and Tax Credit: Expenses are deductible for depreciation.
Other Corporate Taxes: Real property tax, social security contributions, stamp duty, transfer tax.

Individual Taxes

Tax Rate

Personal income tax	Progressive rate
RSD 0 - 3,288,528	10%
RSD 3,288,528 and above	15%

Allowable Deductions and Tax Credit: Reductions of taxable income cannot be more than 50% of the taxable income. Personal allowances are available to the members of the taxpayer's family that are financially supported by the taxpayer.
Special Expatriate Tax Regime: There is no special tax regime for expatriates.

Double Taxation Treaties

Countries With Whom a Double Taxation Treaty Have Been Signed: See the list of the conventions signed.
Withholding Taxes: Dividends: 20%, Interest: 20%, Royalties: 20%

Sources of Fiscal Information

Tax Authorities: Tax administration
Customs administration
Other Domestic Resources: Taxes in Serbia
Guide to Doing Business and Investing in Serbia of PricewaterhouseCoopers.

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Intellectual Property

National Organizations: The organization responsible for intellectual property protection in Serbia is the Federal Bureau for Intellectual Property (Zavod za Intelektualni Svojinu). It depends on the Ministry of the Economy and Foreign Trade.
International Membership: Member of the WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organization)
Signatory to the Paris Convention For the Protection of Intellectual Property
Membership to the TRIPS agreement - Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS)

National Regulation and International Agreements

Type of property and law	Validity	International Agreements Signed
Patent Patents Act	20 years	Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT)
Trademark Trademark Protection Act 1 January 2005	10 years	Trademark Law Treaty Protocol Relating to the Madrid Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Marks
Design Protection of Designs Act 1 January 2005	25 years
Copyright Copyright and associated rights Act 1 January 2005	70 years	Berne convention For the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works WIPO Copyright Treaty
Industrial Models Design Protection Act 1 January 2005	25 years

Legal Framework

Independence of Justice: Judicial power is independent, the highest authority being the Constitutional Court.
The Language of Justice: Serbian.
Recourse to an Interpreter: It is possible to have an interpreter at a trial.
Sources of the Law and Legal Similarities: Following Montenegro's declaration of independence on June 3rd 2006 a new constitution was drawn up; it was put to referendum and ratified on 28 and 29 October 2006. The previous constitution dated from 27 April 1992.
Checking National Laws Online: Website of Serbian lawyers
Website about commercial laws in Serbia

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Standards

National Standards Organizations: Institute for Standardization of Serbia, website in Serbian.
Ministry of the Economy, website in Serbian.
Integration in the International Standards Network: The organization which fixes norms, tests and certifications in Serbia is the Institute for Standardization (Zavod za Standardizaciju - ISS). The organization which grants accreditations is Accreditation Board (ATC). Both organizations depend on the Ministry of the Economy. ISS represents Serbia in international and European organizations for standardization (ISO, IEC, CEN and CENELEC), and in systems/schemes for certification (IECEE, IECEx and IECQ).
Classification of Standards: The Serbian standards are the SRPS. For more information about the classification of standards consult the ISS website.
Online Consultation of Standards: Consult the standards in the catalogue of the ISS website.
Certification Organizations: Accreditation Board of Serbia
Institute for Standardization of Serbia

Business Practices

General Information: Doing business in Serbia
Opening Hours and Days: Food shops : 6 am - 9 pm in the week and on Saturday, 8 am - 2pm on Sunday.
Administration : 8 am - 4pm every day of the week.
Banks : 8 am - 7pm in the week, 8 am - 3 pm on Saturday.

Public Holidays

New Year's Day	1 January
Orthodox Christmas	7 January
Saint Sava	27 January
Constitution Day	15 February
Good Friday, Orthodox Easter	17 April
Orthodox Easter Monday	20 April
Labor Day	1 May
Victory Day	9 May
Saint Vitus	28 June
Catholic Christmas	25 December

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Serbia: Business Environment