Employee share-based incentives are still relatively rare in Serbia, compared to more traditional cash bonuses. The Serbian Companies’ Act was updated in 2018 to provide, for the first time, a basic framework for implementing share incentive plans in a limited liability company, which is by far the most popular corporate form in Serbia. Share-based incentives in public joint-stock companies have not gained prominence due to undeveloped capital markets. Salary tax and social security contribution exemption was introduced in 2019 for stock options and underlying shares offered by employers or their related parties to Serbian employees. The exemption can be used also in scenarios where options/shares are offered by a foreign parent company to employees of a Serbian subsidiary.
You can read more on this topic in BDK Advokati’s contribution to the Legal 500 publication Employee Incentive Comparative Guide, 2023 edition. Our counsel Tomislav Popović authored the Serbian chapter.
