The founders of innovative companies that are open after March 1 will be exempted from paying three years of taxes and contributions on gross earnings of up to 1,200 euros per month.
It is a new facilitation introduced by the Government of Serbia, which should stimulate the opening and development of companies engaged in innovation and in order for the founder to do so, he or she must have at least five percent of shares or interests in the company and must not be affiliated with by one legal entity.
NALED Regulatory Reform Director Jelena Bojovic told Tanjug that the relief builds on the NALED-initiated relief from the Government of Serbia in 2018, which allowed tax exemptions and wage contributions for start-ups, entrepreneurs in the system personal wages and entrepreneurial farmers.
In 2018, NALED began working with entrepreneurs to identify what are the key issues in their work in the first and second years of business.
Our special focus was on young people and those who had just graduated from high schools and colleges”, Bojovic explains.
As she stated, the Government was then proposed such a measure, also known as “Start legal”, which means that the payment of taxes and contributions instead of the starter is paid by the state. She explains that the intention was to encourage young people to start their own businesses and to make their first year of business easier, which, she says, proved to be the most difficult for beginners.
Namely, the relief for the amount of monthly net salary of up to 300 euros in the first year of business can be realized by the founders of first companies or entrepreneurs who have completed their education in the last 12 months or have been on the records of the National Employment Service (NES) for at least six months.
From October 2018 to the end of 2019, 780 businesses used this relief for a total of 893 employees.
Bojovic points out that this measure most stimulated employment and work in those areas where it is difficult to attract large investments, such as Medvedja, Krupanj, Trstenik, etc.
According to NALED’s analysis, the measure saves entrepreneurs 100 to 300 euros, and to limited liability companies around 130 euros a month, otherwise they would pay taxes and contributions.
The analysis also showed that beginners during the first year have to pay from 1,300 to 3,500 euros (entrepreneur), or from 1,500 to 2,000 euros (business company) for the costs of establishment and taxes and contributions.
“It is on the basis of this measure, as well as its results, that the Government of Serbia came up with the idea for its expansion related to innovation activities, with the duration of 36 months and the amount on which the tax exemption can be realized, that is, the maximum amount is 1,300 euros”, Bojovic said.
NALED’s “Start Legally” program, in addition to the Serbian Government, was supported by the German Organization for International Cooperation (GIZ), Dnevnik reports.
