The role of employers and trade unions is meaningless in the negotiations on the amount of the minimum wage, which are being conducted within the Social-Economic Council, according to the Association of the Protector of Entrepreneurs and Businessmen of Serbia. As they add, the state contributed to that by announcing in advance what the amount of the minimum wage will be, without the intention to regulate the tax system and the contribution system in a fair and comprehensive way.
“High burdens on small wages, which amount to about 60 percent on the net earned dinar, are a direct cause of the huge black labor market, which collapses registered employers and contributes to excessive levies on small wages and small businesses,” the Protector of Entrepreneurs and Businessmen of Serbia said in a statement.
The association reminds that entrepreneurs and owners of micro enterprises are themselves employed in their companies, so they feel the burden of huge fees:
“Instead of the message that it is more profitable to work illegally, the state apparatus should deal with a substantial change in the tax system in a fair, progressive and comprehensive way in order to improve the standard of employees.”
The association estimates that more money in the budget will be created by preventing smuggling at customs, theft of electricity, fuel and other excise goods. Also, the pumping of money abroad through fictitious invoices and transfer prices without paying income tax should be prevented.
The Protector of Entrepreneurs and Businessmen also reminds that rigged tenders, illegal construction, illegal trade via the Internet, as well as subsidizing foreign investors should be prevented. In their opinion, in that way, the burden on small salaries and small businesses will be reduced, without encroaching on the basic rights to health care and pension.
“An increase (minimum) of a few thousand dinars has no effect when we are charged tax on electricity and fuel bills (VAT value added tax on excise duty), when the prices of basic foodstuffs have jumped by several tens of percent, when we are charged property tax for facilities used for basic housing, which is a cost tax and many other illogicalities that take away the hard-earned dinar at every step,” the statement said.
Negotiations on the minimum wage will begin on August 23, and the President of Serbia announced at the beginning of July that the minimum wage for 2022 will amount to no less than 300 euros. He then estimated that around one million people in Serbia received the minimum wage last year.
Employers recently announced that they agree to increase the minimum, but with lower taxes, Nova Ekonomija reports.
