NALED: The improvement of regulation stimulated the increase of entrepreneurs by over 10%

The number of entrepreneurs in Serbia is constantly growing, and currently there are over 328,000 of them. This year, in the first six months, around 22,500 new businesses have been registered, 11% more than in the same period in 2022. Although the crisis did not slow down the positive trend due to the creation of a good regulatory framework for business, support measures are still necessary, the panel concluded. The panel was held as part of the StarTech program, during the Global Entrepreneurship Week.

Assistant Minister of Finance Dragan Demirovic pointed out that the most important regulatory changes this year were made to improve the position of lump sum workers and freelancers.

- We reacted in accordance with the new global economic developments and we hit the bullseye. The limit on the increase of the tax base for flat-rate entrepreneurs has been extended to 10% until the end of 2025, as well as the maximum reduction of the base for beginners by 50%. Our conclusion is that the profit of entrepreneurs does not grow at the same rate as earnings, and that limiting the growth of liabilities is still a prerequisite for the business of flat-rate entrepreneurs - Demirovic explained.

The fact that today we have around 147,200 registered flat-rate taxpayers, and three years ago there were 121,700 says a lot about the success of the flat-rate taxation system, says Dragan Agatunovic, coordinator for tax control at the Tax Administration.

- We have significantly improved the procedure for taxation of freelancers. So far, about 3,400 taxpayers have submitted around 7,800 applications in the total amount of RSD 582 million. They have achieved their rights to health insurance - concluded Agatunovic and added that new functionalities will be available on the Freelancers portal from next year.

The Ministry of Economy recently adopted the Strategy for the Development of Small and Medium Enterprises until 2027, which determines the strategic direction of the development of entrepreneurship and competitiveness.

- The role of entrepreneurs is increasingly important. Entrepreneurs make up 27.3% of the total number of employees in Serbia and contribute 24% to the GDP. The strategy recognizes this and has foreseen measures of financial and non-financial support for them - said Aleksandra Vucetic from the Small and Medium Enterprises Sector of the Ministry of Economy.

Sofija Popara from the Digital Community pointed out that serious steps have been taken towards improving business conditions for entrepreneurs, but that there is still room for improvement. She pointed to the initiative "Entrepreneurs are mothers too", unifying the payment of taxes and contributions to one account, and enabling the transition to the self-taxation regime when lump-sum payments exceed the limit of six million.

Dusan Vasiljevic, director of the Department for Competitiveness and Investments in NALED, supported the mentioned proposals and added that it is necessary to enable the automatic registration of internships for entrepreneurs and to consider increasing the existing flat rate limit of six million.

- We also plan on establishing a Council for small businesses, which will systematically deal with issues that concern entrepreneurs - Vasiljevic concluded.

Ministarstvo finansija Republike Srbije

Ministarstvo privrede Republike Srbije

Poreska uprava Srbije

NALED

National Alliance for Local Economic Development

Digital Community

Dragan Agatunovic

Dragan Demirovic

Aleksandra Vucetic

Dusan Vasiljevic

Sofija Popara

Global

StarTech

Global Entrepreneurship Week

entrepreneurship

flat rate

freelancers

portal Freelancers

competitiveness

grants