Do you want to hire people from other countries to help with your business?
Do you want to save 70% on payroll taxes and 100% on social security contributions for employees?
If the answer is yes, then you should read this text.
In June of this year, the Government of Serbia passed the Decree on Criteria for Granting Incentives to Employers Employing Newly Resident in the Republic of Serbia (“Decree”), which lays out the exact conditions and steps for using the right to incentives for hiring foreigners.
In the next section, we’ll explain the mentioned conditions and procedures so that you don’t miss out on savings because you didn’t know what to do.
Who has the right to use it?
You can get incentives if you are registered to do any of the following in the Republic of Serbia:
A natural person, a legal entity, an entrepreneur, or a representative office or branch of a foreign employer in the Republic of Serbia can be a natural person or a legal entity.
Who is thought to be new?
According to the Decree, a newly settled person is a natural person for whom there is a need that cannot be easily met on the domestic labor market and who has not lived in Serbia for more than 180 days in the 24 months leading up to the day you signed a full-time employment contract with them.
You must pay the person you hire who is new to the country a gross salary of at least 300,000 RSD. This is an important condition that you must pay attention to.
How to get things to change?
As an employer, you have to submit an application to the Ministry of Economy once a year, between September 15 and September 30, for the payment of incentives related to the salaries of newly settled people. Each application is for salaries paid in the 12 months before the application was submitted.
The application must include information about your business (PIB, MB, activity, etc.), as well as the amount of incentives you want to receive based on the calculation. Also, you need to include information about the employee and a calculation of the salary, which includes 70% of calculated and paid taxes and 100% of calculated and paid contributions for mandatory social insurance, for salaries paid during a certain time period related to the application. Lastly, it is important to give the employee of the newly settled person a written statement in which the newly settled person confirms, under criminal and civil liability, that in the 24 months before signing an employment contract with the employer, he did not stay in the Republic of Serbia for more than 180 days.
According to the Decree, the Ministry of Economy has 120 days after the deadline for applications to make a decision on the applications that have been submitted.
For more information on this or any other legal, tax, or business topic, feel free to write to us at [email protected] at any time or call us at phone number +381113281914 every working day from 08:30 to 16:30.
