The association of internet workers (freelancers) protested today in front of the government of Serbia because of the way income is taxed and the level of tax rates, and they symbolically burned the tax solutions that came to them.
The president of that association, Miran Pogačar, said that one of their demands is that freelancers should not be charged income tax for the period from 2017 to 2020, the N1 television portal reported.
“And every mother should be given the right to maternity and maternity leave. We also asked for a four percent tax reduction, which is not much. What they are asking for is too much,” said Pogačar and called on freelancers not to pay the first installment of taxes for 2017. .
He told Beta that the first tax installment for 2017 is due on February 17 and that if interest is calculated, it will cover only the first installment and not the entire amount.
Pogačar said that the freelancers will wait two weeks for the competent ministry to call them for an interview, otherwise more radical protest measures are possible.
Miloš Stojković, a freelancer from Niš, said that because of this method of taxation, he “fell into debt slavery”.
“It’s not the worst thing that no one informed us about paying taxes, the worst thing is that the freelancers went to the Tax Office on their own and asked, then they were told you can’t, because we have no way to tax you. If everything was in order, we we would be legalized as we are today,” he said.
According to him, there are now 8,000 freelancers and “they have to pay tribute for the next ten years”.
“The freelancers wanted to pay, but the state did not allow them, and the state should take some responsibility. The ultimate goal should be that we all go together to the point where we have a representative in the assembly, we have a representative, Miran Pogačar, to say that freelancers are not thieves.” Stojkovic said.
During the protest in 2021, the state agreed to pay the unpaid income tax obligations for the past five years in installments over the next ten years, and for 2023, a new taxation model was agreed upon, but they were not granted the right to maternity and maternity leave.
Those tax obligations and current ones will burden their income by about 50 percent, which is why they are dissatisfied.
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