Regulatory updates - Serbia

According to the amendment to Article 22 of the Rulebook, the Serbian Ministry of Finance will not impose fines for VAT reporting discrepancies in the SEF system until December 31, 2025, though penalties may be reinforced after this date. During this period, the Ministry of Finance will disregard errors in VAT record data while evaluating the correctness of the electronic VAT recording.

The extension of the grace period follows provisions that were previously established under the Rulebook on Electronic Invoicing which was published in the Official Gazette No. 107/24 on December 30, 2024, and entered into force on January 1, 2025, with some exceptions. The Rulebook specified that between January 1, 2025 and June 30, 2025, the Ministry of Finance would not penalize errors in electronic VAT records submitted to the SEF system.

Additionally, effective July 1, 2025, the same rulebook introduced new requirements for credit and debit notes. According to Article 14 p. 1(3), taxpayers must now include in these documents the date when the increase or decrease occurred and the date when the credit or debit note was issued.

The final version of the law largely mirrors the provisions outlined in the draft published in September 2024. Under the current law, both private and public entities are obliged to issue electronic delivery notes for each movement of goods, before transportation. Subsequently, carriers are required to present these electronic delivery notes during inspection processes. The implementation timeline is as follows:

From 1 January 2026:

1. General movement of goods:
   • Public entities must send and receive e-delivery notes in G2G, G2B, and B2G transactions
   • Private entities must send e-delivery notes in B2G transactions
   • Carriers must present the e-delivery notes during the inspections.
2. Movement of excise goods:
   • Private entities must send and receive e-delivery notes in B2B and G2B transactions
   • Carriers must present the e-delivery notes during the inspection.

From 1 October 2027:

1. General movement of goods:
   • Private entities must send and receive e-delivery notes in B2B and G2B transactions
   • Carriers must present the e-delivery notes during the inspection.

The by-laws that will further regulate the process of sending, receiving, and presenting electronic delivery notes will be adopted within 90 days from the date the law entered into force.

The Law will enter into force on 15 December 2024, with the majority of obligations applicable from 1 January 2025. However, certain rules have different timelines, i.e.:

• 15 December 2024: requirements regarding the determination of the subject’s status will apply (Art 3 & Art 12);
• After 31 December 2024: provisions on the electronic recording of VAT and electronic recording of advance tax applicable to respective VAT tax periods will apply (Art 4 & Art 5);
• After 31 December 2025: changes referring to the e-invoice content applicable to the respective VAT tax periods will apply (Art 7).

Furthermore, below are the main implications of the amended law.

Determining the subject’s status

• Every entity that is a subject of the electronic invoicing system (SEF) must provide data on its status in SEF within five days from the date of registration in the list of SEF users;
• The information that must be disclosed is whether the entity is liable for VAT and whether the tax period is a calendar month or quarter.

Electronic recording of VAT and electronic recording of advance tax

• The electronic recording of VAT includes increase and decrease in individual and collective VAT recording;
• There are certain exceptions to the individual VAT recording, e.g., for travel agencies;
• The deadline to electronically record VAT and electronically record advance tax has changed from day 10 to day 12 of the calendar month following the tax period for which the VAT is recorded;
• Both the electronic recording of VAT and the electronic recording of advance tax can be corrected.

Preliminary tax return

The preliminary tax declaration will be provided in SEF based on the data available in the system.

Cross-border traffic

The user of SEF can check import data by accessing the list of customs declarations for import.

Penalties

Fines between 200 thousand to 2 million Serbian Dinar (ca. 1700 - 1.7 million EUR) will apply for:

• Breaching the obligation to disclose the subject’s status;
• Not recording the VAT electronically in line with Art 4 and Art 4a;
• Not using the SEF system based on Art 5(1).

If an error is made in correcting the electronic recording of VAT and advance tax, no offense will be committed if the correction was made before the supervision process (Art 16) has started.

Following adoption of the amended Law on E-Invoicing, the Rulebook on Electronic Invoicing was also updated and published in the Official Gazette no. 101/24