Obligations / Serbia

What a company files in Serbia [RS]

Every entry below is the rule as Serbia publishes it. It is a reference, not a calendar: where a deadline runs from something only you know, this page says so instead of showing a date.

A template, not your deadline

This is the rule as published by the registry, checked against the primary source on the date shown. It is not your filing date. Where a deadline runs from incorporation, from a fiscal year the company itself elects, or from an event only you know about, no date can be derived here at all — the figure you see is the formula, not the answer. Extensions, transitional regimes and entity-specific exemptions are not reflected. Confirm with the registry before you rely on a date.

How the financial year is set — Fixed by statute

The tax period for corporate income tax is the business year, and the business year is the calendar year by force of law rather than by the company's choice. Article 38 of the Law on Corporate Income Tax provides that «Порески период за који се обрачунава порез на добит је пословна година» and that «Пословна година је календарска година, осим у случају престанка или отпочињања обављања делатности у току године». A taxpayer may move away from the calendar year, but only through an approval: paragraph 3 requires the consent of the minister responsible for finance, or of the Governor of the National Bank of Serbia, after which the competent tax authority «одобрава решењем да се пословна година и календарска година разликују», with a tax period of twelve months, and «Тако одобрени порески период обвезник је дужан да примењује најмање пет година». Because the calendar year is the statute's own rule and leaving it costs an approval plus a five-year commitment, the annual duty below is counted from the end of the tax period. For the stub period that precedes an approved non-calendar year, paragraph 4 counts the deadline differently, «у року од десет дана од дана истека рока прописаног за подношење финансијских извештаја», so that transition is not the same formula as the ordinary annual one.

Tax Administration of Serbia (Пореска управа), consolidated text of the Закон о порезу на добит правних лица, article 38 (порески период) and article 39, paragraph 2 (стопа: «Стопа пореза на добит правних лица износи 15%»). Article 38, paragraph 1: «Порески период за који се обрачунава порез на добит је пословна година», «Пословна година је календарска година, осим у случају престанка или отпочињања обављања делатности у току године»; paragraph 3: the tax authority «одобрава решењем да се пословна година и календарска година разликују» and «Тако одобрени порески период обвезник је дужан да примењује најмање пет година»; paragraph 4: for the period preceding an approved non-calendar year the return is filed «у року од десет дана од дана истека рока прописаног за подношење финансијских извештаја». The document's own header lists the Official Gazette numbers through 94/24. · checked 2026-10-23

Annual corporate income tax return (пореска пријава ПДП) with the tax balance

Formula, not a date
Filed to
The Tax Administration (Пореска управа), exclusively in electronic form through its portal: returns «подносе искључиво у електронском облику», and paper filing is not available for this return. The period is counted in days, not months. Article 63, paragraph 3 of the Law gives the taxpayer «у року од 180 дана од дана истека периода за који се утврђује коначна пореска обавеза», so for a tax period ending 31 December the deadline falls on 29 June of the following year, and on 28 June where the February in between has 29 days. Two things travel with the date. The return must carry the tax balance: a return filed without it is treated as if it had not been filed at all, «сматра се да пореска пријава није поднета». And the money rides on the same day, because a taxpayer whose monthly advances came to less than the liability shown in the return «дужан је да разлику уплати најкасније до подношења пореске пријаве», so a timely return without the payment is not the duty discharged.
Who it applies to
Every entity in the jurisdiction
Resident taxpayers and non-resident taxpayers operating through a permanent establishment in Serbia. There is no turnover floor: the final-liability return is owed «независно од тога да ли у пореском периоду порески обвезник има остварени приход», so a company that earned nothing in the period still has a filing window, and a loss-making company is not excused either. The Tax Administration's guide separates one group from the rest only as to how the tax is paid, not as to whether a return is due: a taxpayer in bankruptcy or liquidation, and a non-profit organisation, pay the tax on the annual return deadline rather than through monthly advances.
Deadline
Within 5 months after the end of the financial year.
If missed
No monetary figure is printed here, because none was read in a primary source. The Tax Administration's guide points to article 67 of the Law for advances that were not paid when due, but the fines for failing to file this return sit in the Закон о пореском поступку и пореској администрацији, which was not read for this entry. What the guide does state is a consequence that is not a fine at all and bites earlier: a return filed without the tax balance «сматра се да пореска пријава није поднета», so an incomplete filing leaves the taxpayer in the position of not having filed.
Proof of filing
The electronically submitted return together with the tax balance, and the portal's record of that submission. Because a return without the tax balance counts as not filed, the proof is the complete set rather than the return alone; where a balancing payment was owed, the payment order for the difference belongs with it.
Primary source: Tax Administration of Serbia (Пореска управа), user guide on the application of the rulebook on the content and manner of filing the corporate income tax return (корисничко упутство, обрасц ПДП), March 2025. It cites article 63 of the Закон о порезу на добит правних лица for the duty to file and quotes the deadline as «у року од 180 дана од дана истека периода за који се утврђује коначна пореска обавеза» (article 63, paragraph 3); it states that returns «подносе искључиво у електронском облику» through the Tax Administration portal, that a return lodged without the tax balance means «сматра се да пореска пријава није поднета», that the return is owed «независно од тога да ли у пореском периоду порески обвезник има остварени приход», and that an underpaying taxpayer «дужан је да разлику уплати најкасније до подношења пореске пријаве». The Ministry of Finance register of regulations records the law's latest amendment as Official Gazette 94/2024.
checked 2026-10-23 · Rechecked every 24 months

Monthly advance payment of corporate income tax (месечна аконтација)

Formula, not a date
Filed to
The Tax Administration (Пореска управа), by payment rather than by a separate monthly form: the amount follows from the last return filed, and the calendar is monthly. The Tax Administration's guide states the day plainly — «Месечна аконтација пореза на добит плаћа се до 15-ог у месецу за претходни месец» — so the advance for a given month falls due on the fifteenth of the month after it. The guide cites article 67 of the Law in respect of advances that were not paid when due, which is where this duty's own consequence sits rather than in the annual return.
Who it applies to
Every entity in the jurisdiction
Taxpayers that pay corporate income tax through monthly advances, which is the ordinary route. The Tax Administration's guide names the exceptions by the manner of payment: a taxpayer in bankruptcy or in liquidation, and a non-profit organisation, pay the tax on the annual return deadline instead of through monthly advances. A taxpayer in its first period has no prior return to compute the advance from; the sources read for this entry do not set out how the first-year advance is determined, so that case is left undescribed rather than guessed at.
Deadline
Counted from an event, not from the calendar.
No date can be derived here. This deadline runs from something this page does not know — the financial year the company itself elects, or an event only you can date. What is published is the rule, not the day.
If missed
No monetary figure is printed here, because none was read in a primary source. The Tax Administration's guide cites article 67 of the Закон о порезу на добит правних лица for advances that were not paid when due, and the general machinery for late tax — interest and enforced collection — sits in the Закон о пореском поступку и пореској администрацији, which was not read for this entry. A figure recalled rather than read would be worse than this gap.
Proof of filing
The payment order for each monthly advance and the taxpayer's account card with the Tax Administration, which is where advances paid are set against the liability that the annual return later shows.
Primary source: Tax Administration of Serbia (Пореска управа), user guide on the application of the rulebook on the content and manner of filing the corporate income tax return (корисничко упутство, обрасц ПДП), March 2025: «Месечна аконтација пореза на добит плаћа се до 15-ог у месецу за претходни месец», with article 67 of the Закон о порезу на добит правних лица cited in respect of advances not paid when due, and with taxpayers in bankruptcy or liquidation and non-profit organisations paying on the annual return deadline rather than through advances.
checked 2026-10-23 · Rechecked every 24 months

Periodic VAT return (пореска пријава ПДВ) and payment of the tax

Formula, not a date
Filed to
The Tax Administration (Пореска управа), on the prescribed form, with the filing and the payment carrying the same deadline. The Tax Administration states the tax periods as «календарски месец» and «календарско тромесечје», the filing as «Врши се у року од 15 дана по истеку пореског периода на прописаном обрасцу», and the payment as «Плаћање ПДВ се врши у року од 15 дана по истеку пореског периода». Because the two run together, a return lodged on the fifteenth day without the money is half of the duty, not the whole of it.
Who it applies to
Only registered foreign entities
Persons registered for the obligation to pay VAT. Which of the two tax periods applies to a given registered person — the calendar month or the calendar quarter — turns on turnover, and the dividing figure was not read in a primary source for this entry, so it is not stated here: a person who assumes the quarter and in fact belongs to the month would be a fortnight late twice over before the quarter ends. The Tax Administration does state one case that carries no turnover test at all: a foreign person must appoint a tax representative and register «независно од износа тог промета у претходних 12 месеци».
Deadline
Counted from an event, not from the calendar.
No date can be derived here. This deadline runs from something this page does not know — the financial year the company itself elects, or an event only you can date. What is published is the rule, not the day.
If missed
No monetary figure is printed here. The penalty provisions of the Закон о порезу на додату вредност were not read in a primary source for this entry: the text of the version applying from 1 April 2026 was not obtained, and a copy published on a ministry site carries no gazette header by which its vintage could be fixed. A figure from an unidentified vintage of a law that changed this year would be worse than no figure.
Proof of filing
The return on the prescribed form as lodged with the Tax Administration, together with the payment order for the tax due for that period, since the two share one deadline.
Primary source: Tax Administration of Serbia (Пореска управа), general VAT information page «Опште о ПДВ-у»: the tax periods are «календарски месец» and «календарско тромесечје»; filing «Врши се у року од 15 дана по истеку пореског периода на прописаном обрасцу»; payment «Плаћање ПДВ се врши у року од 15 дана по истеку пореског периода»; a foreign person registers «независно од износа тог промета у претходних 12 месеци». The page states the deadlines without citing the article of the Закон о порезу на додату вредност that sets them, and the statute's own text for the version applying from 1 April 2026 was not read for this entry.
checked 2026-10-23 · Rechecked every 6 months

Recording the beneficial owner in the Central Register of Beneficial Owners

Formula, not a date
Filed to
The Central Register of Beneficial Owners, which under article 5 of the Закон о централној евиденцији стварних власника is kept by the Agency for Business Registers — «Централну евиденцију води Агенција за привредне регистре» — in electronic form through a registrar. The recording is made by the entity's authorised person, and article 8, paragraph 4 sets the window: «најкасније у року од 30 дана од дана наступања основа евидентирања из члана 7. тач. 1) и 2) овог закона». The count therefore runs from the event that gives rise to the recording, not from any date in the calendar. The law has been in force since 15 March 2025, and an amending law moved the application of its provisions forward to 1 October 2025, so the duty bites now rather than on the eighteen-month horizon the original article 27 had set.
Who it applies to
Every entity in the jurisdiction
The registered entities that article 2 lists. Among them are companies other than public joint-stock companies — «привредна друштва, осим јавних акционарских друштава» — and foundations and endowments, «фондације и задужбине». The same article brings in trusts and comparable legal arrangements administered from Serbia, or whose trustee or equivalent is based there, on the conditions it sets. A public joint-stock company is therefore outside this duty by the terms of the list, not by an exemption granted elsewhere.
Deadline
Counted from an event, not from the calendar.
No date can be derived here. This deadline runs from something this page does not know — the financial year the company itself elects, or an event only you can date. What is published is the rule, not the day.
If missed
Article 19, paragraph 1 of the Закон о централној евиденцији стварних власника provides for a misdemeanour fine on the registered entity of «од 500.000 до 2.000.000 динара», and item 1 of that paragraph is the failure to record the beneficial-owner data within the thirty-day window. Paragraph 2 adds a fine on the responsible person of «од 50.000 до 150.000 динара». Beyond the fines, article 18 makes the intentional concealment of a beneficial owner a criminal offence punishable by six months to five years' imprisonment. The amounts are ranges in the statute, so no single figure is printed.
Proof of filing
The electronic record in the Central Register as it stands after the filing, made by the authorised person, and the Agency's confirmation of that filing. Because the register is public in the parts the law opens, the recorded state of the data is itself the evidence.
Primary source: National Assembly of Serbia, adopted text of the Закон о централној евиденцији стварних власника: article 2, paragraph 1 lists the registered entities, including «привредна друштва, осим јавних акционарских друштава» and «фондације и задужбине»; article 5, «Централну евиденцију води Агенција за привредне регистре»; article 8, paragraph 4, recording «најкасније у року од 30 дана од дана наступања основа евидентирања из члана 7. тач. 1) и 2) овог закона»; article 18, imprisonment of six months to five years for intentional concealment; article 19, paragraph 1, a fine «од 500.000 до 2.000.000 динара» on the registered entity and paragraph 2 «од 50.000 до 150.000 динара» on the responsible person; article 27 on entry into force. The law was published as Official Gazette 19/25 and has been in force since 15 March 2025; the National Assembly's adopted Закон о измени Закона о централној евиденцији стварних власника replaced the eighteen-month horizon in article 27 with application «од 1. октобра 2025. године».
checked 2026-10-23 · Rechecked every 6 months

Annual check and confirmation of the recorded beneficial-owner data

Formula, not a date
Filed to
The Central Register of Beneficial Owners kept by the Agency for Business Registers. This duty is separate from the recording itself: article 9 requires the registered entity, or the authorised person, to check that the recorded beneficial-owner data are accurate «у року од годину дана од дана последњег евидентирања података о стварном власнику», and then to confirm them within a further thirty days. The clock therefore restarts at each recording rather than running on a calendar date, and a year in which nothing changed is not a year in which nothing is owed — the confirmation is due even when the data are found to be correct.
Who it applies to
Every entity in the jurisdiction
The same registered entities that owe the recording under article 2, that is companies other than public joint-stock companies, foundations and endowments, and the trusts and comparable arrangements the article brings in. Article 9 addresses the duty to the entity and to the authorised person designated under article 3, paragraph 3, points 2 and 3.
Deadline
Counted from an event, not from the calendar.
No date can be derived here. This deadline runs from something this page does not know — the financial year the company itself elects, or an event only you can date. What is published is the rule, not the day.
If missed
No figure is attached to this particular duty. Article 19 of the law carries the fines — «од 500.000 до 2.000.000 динара» on the registered entity and «од 50.000 до 150.000 динара» on the responsible person — but the item of article 19, paragraph 1 read for this entry is the one on failing to record within thirty days of the triggering event. Whether that article also reaches a failure to carry out the annual check and confirmation under article 9 was not established, so the range is stated as the law's general level rather than as the sanction for this duty.
Proof of filing
The confirmation lodged in the Central Register within the thirty days that follow the check, and the date the register shows for it, since that date is also what starts the next year's count.
Primary source: National Assembly of Serbia, adopted text of the Закон о централној евиденцији стварних власника, article 9: the registered entity or the authorised person under article 3, paragraph 3, points 2 and 3 must check the accuracy of the recorded beneficial-owner data «у року од годину дана од дана последњег евидентирања података о стварном власнику» and confirm them within a further thirty days; article 5, «Централну евиденцију води Агенција за привредне регистре»; article 19 for the fines. The law was published as Official Gazette 19/25, in force since 15 March 2025, and the National Assembly's adopted Закон о измени Закона о централној евиденцији стварних власника set application «од 1. октобра 2025. године».
checked 2026-10-23 · Rechecked every 6 months
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