Almost a third of companies in Serbia operate without workers, while in 2020 there were 23,313 people with one employee. The largest number of companies without any employees are engaged in wholesale and retail trade, followed by the processing industry, scientific, professional, innovation and technical activities. According to the reports of the Business Registers Agency, companies without employees are mostly micro-sized, of which there are 31,188, so that they make up 99.1 percent of the total number (31,465). There are significantly fewer small companies – 249, while there are 20 medium and eight large ones.
Their total business income in 2020 amounted to 1.2 million euros. Since some of these companies make good money, this can be a signal for possible business in the gray economy.
Dragoljub Rajic, a consultant for the Business Support Network, says that there are several reasons why companies without workers or with only one employee have been established in Serbia for years.
– Instability in business and financial problems of many large companies lead the owners to open additional smaller companies, so that they can continue to work and keep clients who will always choose a smaller entrepreneurial company for cooperation, because the service is 20 percent cheaper because it is not they have to pay invoiced VAT. So that the owners of larger companies establish smaller entrepreneurial shops without workers and invoice services to new clients from that smaller company – reveals Rajic.
However, the fact that 29.7 percent of such companies are registered in Serbia is worrying. There are a number of countries in the EU where it is not even possible to set up a company without employees. Where feasible, this percentage usually does not exceed four percent of all companies.
– That is an alarm for us, because in case such companies have a large turnover, the question remains what many of them are dealing with. Because, through such companies, capital is often inserted that needs to be checked. It is then a question for the tax authorities, how they function without employees, where the capital comes from. By the way, the Council of Accountants and Auditors in 2012, when there were 12 to 13 percent of such companies in Serbia out of the total number, drew the attention of the tax authorities to the problem – Rajic reminds.
That there are different motives for which someone founds a company without workers is also considered by prof. Milojko Arsic, from the Faculty of Economics in Belgrade.
– This type of organization of economic entities is good for those who want to do certain one-time jobs, as soon as possible, such as building a building, and then return to their primary occupation. However, sometimes it seems to avoid tax obligations – says prof. Arsic.
In his opinion, the number of thirty thousand such companies in Serbia cannot be disputed as long as they operate regularly, as long as they do not serve to do some work that can be classified as a “gray zone”.
– The costs of forming a company are usually small, which is good, because it should not make it difficult for people to start a company, but they should be regularly controlled, detected and punished by those who evaded taxes. However, the mere fact that the company works without employees is not proof that it is a fraud – says Prof. Milojko Arsic, Politika reports.
