Serbia
Serbia: 5 company types, its taxes, banking and business environment, and what it is known for.
Forming a company
Company types in Serbia
The 5 forms a founder can choose here, each with its own figures. Open one for its sources.
What it is known for
Where Serbia is in the world’s top 10 on a measure anyone can check, the best rank first. Only the top is shown; a low rank is never stated.
- World’s3rdWorld-leading exports Frozen fruit and nutsFruit and nuts, uncooked or cooked by steaming or boiling in water, frozen, whether or not containing added sugar or other sweetening matterUS$515 m · 6.8% of world exports of 162 exporters · 2024 CEPII BACI, January 2026 release See the top 10
A rank is among everything the source reports for that year, so it moves when the source adds or drops economies. Exports include goods passing through for re-export. Nothing here is a recommendation.
Doing business here
Business accounts
Providers whose own published list of countries names Serbia. A listing means a company formed here may apply, not that it will be accepted.
Not in our records No provider's country list has been read for Serbia.
EU listings
Two lists a bank checks when it opens an account for a company or its owner.
- EU high-risk third countries (AML)
- Not listed
- EU non-cooperative jurisdictions for tax purposes
- Not listedOfficial EUR-Lex, 52026XG01465, Annex I as of 2026-02-17
Official sites
The authorities’ own sites for Serbia: where to register, file and check.
Blocs and agreements
The trade arrangements Serbia belongs to, as each arrangement’s own texts state them: since when, and what each covers. What a membership means for a business is for you to judge.
- Central European Free Trade Agreement (CEFTA 2006)
- Free trade area · since 24 October 2007
Covers goods, investment, public procurement.
Quote
The Parties agree that in the event of any eligible Party becoming a member of the European Union, that Party will withdraw from this Agreement.
Regional and customs arrangements only, 36 of them; bilateral trade agreements are not yet in our records.
Tax
Company tax
Tax, and what the company owes the registry each year.
- Corporate income tax
- 15%
- Distributions
- Not in our records
- Audit
- Not in our records
- Small-company relief
- Not in our records
- Annual obligations
- Not in our records
- Annual registry fee
- Not in our records
VAT
The tax on what the company sells in Serbia, and when it must register, as the tax authority states it.
- Standard rate
- Not in our recordsThe tax authority’s pages have not been read for Serbia.
Tax calendar
When the main returns and payments fall due in Serbia, tax year 2026, as the tax authority states it.
- Corporate tax return
- 180 days after the end of the accounting period · each year
Law on Corporate Income Tax art. 63(3): the tax return is filed within 180 days of the end of the period for which the tax is determined (for a calendar year, 29 June). The return must be filed with the tax balance (art. 63(2)); a return without it is treated as not filed (art. 63(8)).
Quote
Пореска пријава подноси се у року од 180 дана од дана истека периода за који се утврђује порез.
- Corporate tax, final payment
- 180 days after the end of the accounting period · each year
art. 66(2): where the advances paid are less than the tax due on the return, the difference is paid at the latest by the time the return is filed, so the balance is due within 180 days of the end of the tax period (art. 63(3)).
Quote
дужан је да разлику уплати најкасније до подношења пореске пријаве
- Corporate tax, instalments
- Day 15 of the following month · each month
art. 67(2): the monthly advance of corporate income tax is paid by the 15th of the month for the previous month; advances are set from the previous year's return (art. 67(1)). Late advances carry interest (art. 67(5)).
Quote
Месечна аконтација пореза на добит плаћа се до 15-ог у месецу за претходни месец.
- Personal income-tax return
- 15 May · each year
Law on Personal Income Tax art. 92(1): the annual income tax return for income earned in a year is filed after the end of that year and at the latest by 15 May of the following year. The Tax Administration posts a pre-filled return by 1 April (art. 92(2)).
Quote
Обвезник годишњег пореза на доходак грађана дужан је да за остварени доходак у години за коју се врши утврђивање пореза поднесе пореску пријаву са тачним подацима надлежном пореском органу по истеку те године, а најкасније до 15. маја наредне године.
- Personal income tax, final payment
- 15 May · each year
art. 114(1): taxes that the taxpayer determines by self-assessment are paid at the latest by the end of the deadline for filing the return; art. 100a(1)(4) lists the income taxed by annual personal income tax among the self-assessed taxes. The filing deadline is 15 May (art. 92(1)).
Quote
Порези које у складу са овим законом обвезник утврђује самоопорезивањем плаћају се најкасније до истека рока за подношење пореске пријаве.
- Personal income tax, instalments
- 15 days after the end of the month · each month
art. 114(2): a taxpayer keeping business books under art. 43(2)-(3) pays the monthly advance of tax within 15 days of the end of each month. The advance is one twelfth of the tax finally calculated (art. 111(2)). Other taxpayers have no advance regime in the law.
Quote
месечну аконтацију пореза плаћа у року од 15 дана по истеку сваког месеца.
- VAT return
- 15 days after the end of the month · each month
Return due within 15 days after the end of the tax period (calendar month or calendar quarter; quarterly filers use period quarter). Payment: 'Плаћање ПДВ се врши у року од 15 дана по истеку пореског периода'. Gloss: filed within 15 days of period end.
Quote
Врши се у року од 15 дана по истеку пореског периода на прописаном обрасцу, а подноси се без обзира да ли обвезник има обавезу плаћања ПДВ.
- Payroll withholding
- Stated; see the note
art. 101: the payer calculates, withholds and pays the withholding tax to the prescribed single payment account at the moment the income is paid, so the date follows the pay date rather than a fixed calendar day (an event-based deadline the schema's rule types cannot state exactly). It is recorded as due within the pay month (0 days after the month).
Running the company
Running a company here
Not in our records The authorities’ pages on running a company have not been read for Serbia yet.
Economy and trade
What it exports
Goods Serbia exported, by product, as a share of its goods exports each year. Exports include goods passing through for re-export. A share describes Serbia’s own trade; it does not compare places.
| Product (HS heading) | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | Value, 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Insulated (including enamelled or anodised) wire, cable (including coaxial cable) and other insulated electric conductors, whether or not fitted with connectors; optical fibre cables, made up of individually sheathed fibres, whether or not assembled with electric conductors or fitted with connectors HS 8544 | 6.1% | 6.7% | 6.4% | US$2.2 bn |
| Copper ores and concentrates HS 2603 | 5.7% | 4.5% | 4.8% | US$1.7 bn |
| Refined copper and copper alloys, unwrought HS 7403 | 0.59% | 1.6% | 3.8% | US$1.3 bn |
| New pneumatic tyres, of rubber HS 4011 | 2.8% | 2.7% | 3.1% | US$1.1 bn |
| Parts and accessories of the motor vehicles of headings 8701 to 8705 HS 8708 | 1.7% | 2.5% | 2.9% | US$1 bn |
| Electric motors and generators (excluding generating sets) HS 8501 | 2.9% | 3.3% | 2.9% | US$1 bn |
| Electrical energy HS 2716 | 5.3% | 5.3% | 2.9% | US$1 bn |
| Maize (corn) HS 1005 | 1.8% | 0.71% | 2.0% | US$696 m |
| Fruit and nuts, uncooked or cooked by steaming or boiling in water, frozen, whether or not containing added sugar or other sweetening matter HS 0811 | 2.0% | 1.6% | 1.5% | US$515 m |
| Seats (other than those of heading 9402), whether or not convertible into beds, and parts thereof HS 9401 | 1.2% | 1.5% | 1.4% | US$500 m |
Total goods exports, 2024: US$34.9 bn. The ten largest headings are shown.