BDK Advokati contributed to the latest edition of The In-house Lawyer Private Client guide, which provides an overview of the laws and regulations of Private Client across a variety of jurisdictions, including Serbia.

Employees in Serbia have been traditionally entitled by law to reimbursement of costs of commuting to and from work in the amount capped at the price of public transportation ticket, unless the employer organizes transport for the workers. Even though this statutory language refers to cost reimbursement, this benefit had been paid for a number of years as a lump-sum and was treated as a deductible for the employer and as non-taxable employee income without the requirement to produce any documentary evidence that the employee incurred the actual cost of commute.

Despite ideological and legal differences between the social partners (employers’ and trade unions) that emerged in the course of its drafting, the Staff Leasing Act was finally adopted on 6 December 2019 and will become applicable on 1 March 2020 (except for the provisions on licensing of the staff leasing agencies, which will become applicable on 1 January 2020).

The Serbian government has sent to the National Assembly a bill on the amendments to the personal income tax and social contributions laws. The new rules are supposed to apply as of 1 January 2020.

The Ministry of Finance has finally reversed its own 2007 opinion which incorrectly held that gross payments on a notional amount under an interest rate swap agreement between a Serbian resident and a non-resident are subject to withholding tax on interest.