Entrepreneurs in Serbia – establishing the business

ENTREPRENEURS IN SERBIA – ESTABLISHING THE BUSINESS

In Serbia, entrepreneurship has traditionally been associated with a single sort of business activity, which was originally only associated with the so-called old trades, or masters of their trades. What once was is still the same today, but what has changed is that the “masters” of their trades are more often found in various spheres which no longer carry the Turkisms (kujundžija [goldsmith], sajdžija [horologist], jorgandžija [quilter] etc.) or Germanisms  (šnajder [tailor, German: Schneider], moler [painter, German: Maler] etc.) but names which are equally recognized worldwide: freelancer, influencer, digital marketing, life coach, consulting and many more.

Therefore, the best option for everyone who understands the need to define their business legally, regardless of the type of business activity they are involved in, is to choose to become an entrepreneur. Of course, this is presuming that the three essential criteria for every company idea—feasibility, desirability, and profitability — have been met. The registration procedure itself takes place at the competent Business Registers Agency (abbreviated APR in Serbian), and since 2018 it can also be done electronically.

The procedure itself consists of submitting:

– registration form (Serbian: JRPPS),

– prescribed original documentation or a certified copy or a certified photocopy and – proof of payment of the fee for the establishment of an entrepreneur (the current amount of this fee is RSD 1,500),

– for some specific business activities, a permit, consent or other act of the competent authority is also required, if this is prescribed by a special law as a condition for registration.

The prescribed documentation refers to a proof of the entrepreneur’s identity (for domestic natural person it is a photocopy of an ID card, and for foreigners it is a photocopy of a passport/foreign ID card, or a photocopy of an ID card, if it was issued to a foreigner).

The procedure involves submitting the prescribed documentation at the APR counter or online by filling in and paying the fee, as well as attaching the already mentioned documentation. In this way, along with the decision on establishment, the entrepreneurs receive a decision of the APR in which they are indicated:

1. Company Registration Number assigned by the Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia
2. TIN (Taxpayer Identification Number) assigned by the Internal Revenue Service – “Centrala”
3. Application for lump-sum taxation or payment of personal salary or VAT
4. MA form – confirmation of completed application issued by CROSO (The Central Register of the Compulsory Social Insurance)
5. RZZO number – number of health insurance policyholder

The registration procedure, more precisely filling out the JRPPS form, means making a series of decisions concerning:

1. Choosing a name, the name of an entrepreneur, reserving a name, whether and which names can be used, e.g. about geographical origin, nationality, etc.
2. It is necessary to check the data on the address of the headquarters in the Address Register of the Republic Geodetic Institute or on the National Infrastructure of Geospatial Data
3. Decision on the method of taxation
4. Decision on payment of personal salary
5. Decision on entering the VAT system
6. What the MA form represents from employment, and what it means if it is your main business activity
7. The number of employees at the company
8. Whether you are giving someone a Power of Attorney
9. Decision whether to become the manager or not

Since January 2018, it is possible to establish an entrepreneur electronically in the Business Registers Agency. For the eRegistration of the establishment of an entrepreneur, it is necessary for an adult natural person to have

– qualified electronic certificate (electronic signature) issued by a certification body in Serbia

– electronic card reader

– DinaCard, Visa or MasterCard cards for fee payment

The question that frequently arises in practice is: to what extent does this registration procedure conceal not only the legal, but also tax, and accounting doubts that a person beginning an activity should resolve, specifically how qualified he or she is to resolve it, as well as how significant and what are all the consequences. In order to receive the appropriate responses during the establishment itself and lay the foundations of your business on feasibility, desirability and profitability, you should entrust the establishment process to our team of experts.

Lump-sum tax entrepreneurs

Taxation of entrepreneurs and LLC (Serbia)

Calculation of Salary and Contributions of the Entrepreneurs