Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabic and President of Serbian Chamber of Commerce Marko Cadez presented measures to support the development of an innovative economy that provides for more tax breaks for the employment of young people, returnees and foreigners for investment and start-ups in business.
Brnabic said she hoped this was the beginning of a direct dialogue between the Government, the SCC and businessmen, and announced that they would represent the measures throughout Serbia, as she realized that the economy was not informed that they had been introduced.
“We have worked with experts for three years to put in place measures that will allow the economy to grow faster and hire new workers, but we have missed communicating with you, and it is as if we have done nothing”, said Brnabic, addressing businessmen in the Palace “Serbia”.
She said that since January 1, there has been a tax incentive for employment of young people, meaning that businessmen who employ a person who has not been employed during the last year, including young people who are first jobs, are supported by the state by taking over the costs up to 70 percent of taxes and contributions to earnings by the end of 2022.
Total exemption from tax and contribution costs is 70 percent in this year, 65 percent in 2021, and 60 percent in 2022.
According to her, the tax relief for the employment of returnees and foreigners will enter into force on March 1, 2020, so if a businessman hires someone from abroad and provides him with a salary greater than 2 thousand euros over five years, their taxes and contributions will be lower to 70 percent. This measure is also valid for persons who have been abroad for at least two years, and if a returnee from the Diaspora who is under 40 years of age and returns from school and receives a salary of 1.200 thousand euros is employed and is subject to taxes and contributions on salaries lower to 70 percent over five years.
Brnabic said that it is planned to open a competition on Infostud through which young people from abroad can find out what kind of staff the economy is looking for. She also recalled measures taken earlier, such as reducing intellectual property tax from 15 percent to 3 percent, then reducing the tax base for investment in development by recognizing that investment in double the amount and thus reducing tax revenue.
One measure is for startup investments that are eligible for a 30 percent tax credit for investing in innovative, new businesses.
“The goal of this investment measure is to support companies invest more money in innovation by taking the state part of the risk for their investments, with the total amount of tax credit for two years not exceeding 850 thousand euros, and the right is acquired three years after the investment to make sure that the Tax Administration is a legitimate investment”, said Brnabic.
One of the measures introduced earlier is that employees can be attracted and retained in the company by participating in equity, similar to the right to shares.
She also reminded that the introduction of dual education allows students to receive 70 percent of the minimum hourly wage spent by the company where they practice, and that students will be paid at least 50 percent of the basic salary of an employee in the same or similar jobs .
Asked to comment on the announcement by Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti of the partial abolition of taxes on Serbian goods exported to the area, Brnabic said that he had no comment at the moment and would “wait to see what the deal would be”.
Chadez said the goal of today’s meeting with businessmen was to agree on how to implement those measures without much cost and with the advice of SCC experts.
“With these measures, which are just the beginning, we can count on quickly transforming ourselves into the 30 most innovative economies in the world”, Chadez said.
Businessmen asked about the possibility of further reduction of taxes and contributions on salaries, speeding up of customs clearance of spare parts, problems due to the inability of electronic submission of financial statements within due time due to insufficient capacity of the Tax Administration information system, to individual requests for solving specific problems such as the inability to expand the company due to insufficient distance from the highway that was built later than the firm, N1 reports.
