46,500 flat tax calculations on the tax calculator so far
An indicative flat-rate tax calculator was launched on www.jpd.rs website a month ago, and so far, entrepreneurs have calculated 46,500 times what their tax will be in the next four years.
Nearly 15,000 calculations were done in Belgrade, every twelfth calculation was done from Novi Sad (3,817) and every eighteenth from Niš (2,476). By industry, developers showed interest in the tax liability about 11,000 times, followed by business and IT consultants (5,219), lawyers (2,646), accounting, bookkeeping and auditing jobs (2,224), engineers (1,691) and designers (1,383).
The calculator was developed by NALED in cooperation with the Tax Administration as part of a four-year USAID-funded Public-Private Dialogue for Development project and is part of a broader initiative to automate lump-sum taxation procedures initiated by NALED and the Nis-based Entrepreneurship Development Association. The goal is to provide lump sum entrepreneurs with more efficient procedures, less bureaucracy and business predictability.
The basis of the new system will be a software and well-defined tax calculation criteria. Those who are just starting their own business will be able to find out via the web application whether they can operate in a lump sum tax regime and calculate taxes and contributions for several years in advance.
- Existing lump sum entrepreneurs, 117,000 of them, would know the amount of liabilities for the coming year and would receive a tax solution electronically as early as December. The Tax Administration will be relieved from drafting more than 350,000 decisions annually, which means that they could shift tax inspectors from administrative to field work, where they are most needed - said Milivoje Jovanovic, a member of NALED Executive Board and one of the founders of the Association for the Development of Entrepreneurship.
According to the Draft Lump-sum Tax Regulation, as of January 1, 2020, it is foreseen that lump sum entrepreneurs’ liabilities may not increase by more than 10% annually in the next three years. A number of other incentives are also envisaged. Beginners in business can expect a lower tax base during the first three years of business, as well as those under 30 and over 55, women on maternity leave, persons with disabilities and persons suffering from a prolonged illness. An important novelty is that car mechanics and accountants will be able to operate as lump sum entrepreneurs in the future.
The Public-Private Dialogue for Development project is conducted by NALED and the The Public Policy Secreteriat of the Republic of Serbia with the support of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and aims to increase the confidence and openness of the state to the suggestions of businessmen, entrepreneurs and the public.