The amendments to the Serbian Excise Duties Act have been published in the Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbia No 55/2015 on June 24 2015.
The reasons for the adoption of the amendments are predominantly:
-Harmonization of the Serbian laws with the EU laws. By way of these amendments, excise duties are imposed on electricity.
-The amendments to the Excise Duties Act shall serve as the basis for the realization of the memorandum between Serbia and the IMF. Namely, these amendments shall ensure further inflow into the Serbian budget.
By introducing a 7.5% excise duty on electricity, the Serbian government expects an annual inflow of additional BRSD 17 in taxes p.a.
In addition, by way of the latest amendments, liquids for e-cigarettes and smokeless tobacco products are now also subject to excise duties. The excise duty of RSD 4.00 per milligram of liquids shall provide for a further inflow into the Serbian budget.
The main changes to the Excise Duties Act are the following:
-The scope is extended to electricity, smokeless tobacco products and liquids for e-cigarettes;
-The excise duty on smokeless tobacco shall be levied per kilogram, and the excise duty rate shall be 40% of the minimal excise duty on 1,000 cigarettes, assessed for the category of the average retail price of cigarettes;
-The excise duty on liquids for e-cigarettes shall be RSD 4.00 per milligram of liquid;
-The excise duty on electricity for final consumption shall be 7.5%. The base for the calculation of the excise duty shall be the price of electricity, which includes all direct expenses attributable to the delivery of the electricity;
-The payer of the excise duty is the supplier;
-The calculation period is a calendar month;
-The excise duties are due within 15 days from the end of the period in question;
-The following supplies are exempt from excise duties:
- supply for business purposes of diplomatic and consular offices (under reciprocity principle)
- supply for business purposes of international organisations, if the exemption is provided for in an international agreement (under reciprocity principle)
- supply for private purposes of foreign staff of diplomatic and consular offices, including family members (under reciprocity principle)
- supply for private purposes of the staff of international organisations, including their family members, if such exemption is provided for in an international agreement (under reciprocity principle)
- supplies in connection with projects realized under international agreements, if such agreements provide for exemptions
- supply of electricity, which is used for production of electricity, in the process of cogeneration, and for self-supply of electricity producers.
- electricity used in mines
- electricity used for the proper operation and maintenance of electricity distribution network.
Ivana Blagojevic
ivana.blagojevic@eurofast.eu
Eurofast Global, Belgrade Office