October 2023

On September 18, 2023, the Ministry of Finance published a Draft Law on amendments to the electronic invoicing Law. In this regard, representatives of government bodies, organizations, judiciary, international organizations, citizen associations, experts, and other interested parties had the opportunity to provide their proposals, comments, suggestions, and objections to the text of the Draft Law until September 25, 2023. Finally, the Law on amendments to the electronic invoicing Law was published in the "Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbia" No. 92 on October 27, 2023. This law is scheduled to enter into force on the 1st of January 2024, with the exception of the provisions related to the electronic recording of input tax, which will be applicable to tax periods commencing after the 31st of August 2024. The most significant modifications, when compared to the current Electronic invoicing Law, are outlined below:

• Electronic recording of input tax – it represents the obligation to electronically record value-added tax in the previous stage of transactions, i.e. VAT paid on the import of goods for VAT taxpayers.
• Amendment of the deadline for electronic recording of VAT calculation in the e-invoice system – shortening the deadline to 10 days after the end of the tax period.
• Clarification for entities that do not have obligation to issue e-invoices – as an exception to entities that do not have an obligation to issue e-invoices, taxpayers who apply the VAT cash accounting system are mentioned. This exception applies to the amount of tax indicated on the fiscal invoice for which no tax liability arises for the tax period to which the fiscal invoice relates.
• "Tax category" – a new mandatory element of e-invoices.
• Clarification and expansion of penalty provisions – penalty will be imposed, among other things, on private sector entities or public enterprises if they do not use the Electronic invoice system in accordance with the Electronic invoicing Law.
• Possibility to remove Electronic invoice system users from the user list – If the conditions for removal are met, this will be further regulated by a sub-law act.

Electronic Recording of Input Tax:

• A new Article 4a titled "Electronic recording of input tax" is added.
• Article 4a referes to the obligation to electronically record VAT calculated in the previous stage of transactions or paid upon the import of goods.
• This obligation applies exclusively to VAT taxpayers. Public sector entities and voluntary users of the Electronic invoice system, who are not VAT taxpayers, are exempt from this requirement.
• The obligation encompasses all transactions, regardless of whether the taxpayer is entitled to VAT input tax deduction in accordance with the VAT Law.
• The electronic recording of input tax for the previous period must be done within 10 days of the end of the tax period.
• If a change occurs that affects the electronic recording of input tax after the specified deadline, the taxpayer is required to amend the electronic recording of input tax within the deadline for filing the tax return for the tax period in which the change occurred.
• Provisions regarding the electronic recording of input tax will apply to tax periods starting after August 31, 2024.

Amendment of the deadline for electronic recording of VAT calculation in the e-invoice system:

• The title of Article 4 of the Electronic invoicing Law is changed to "Electronic recording of VAT calculations."
• Amendments to Article 4 pertain to the deadline for recording VAT calculations in the Electronic invoice system. The new deadline, in accordance with the VAT Law, is 10 days after the end of the tax period.
• It is also specified that if a change occurs that affects the electronic recording of VAT calculations after the specified deadline, the taxpayer is required to amend the electronic recording of VAT calculations within the deadline for filing the tax return for the tax period in which the change occurred.

Article 10 of the Law on amendments to the Electronic invoicing Law states that sub-law acts envisaged by this law will be adopted within 60 days from January 1, 2024, except for the sub-law act that regulates the method and procedure for the electronic recording of input tax and input tax correction, which will be adopted within 9 months from January 1, 2024.