FAQ

As of January 1, 2011, residence certificates are issued by the competent organizational units of the Tax Administration, where more detailed notifications may be obtained.

Pursuant to Article 247 (4) of the Customs Law, import duties shall not be paid on small value shipments of a non-commercial nature.

Consignments of small value, of a non-commercial nature, are:

1) consignments with a value not exceeding 50 euros, equivalent in dinars, except for consignments consisting of alcohol and alcoholic beverages, perfumes and toilet water, tobacco and tobacco products;

2) letters, postcards, braille (secogram), other private correspondence, public documents, trade correspondence, business books, merchandise, legal and financial documentation and other printed materials, which are not subject to import duties.

The customs authority shall record the exemption from payment of import duties on these consignments on the postal-customs application or on the declaration.

Any natural person who crosses the state border of the Republic of Serbia and who physically transfers transferable means of payment in the amount of EUR 10,000 or more, is obliged to report this money to the competent customs authorities at the border crossing.

In the case of false, inaccurate or incomplete information, the applicant shall be deemed not to have fulfilled his legal obligation and may be fined or the customs authorities may temporarily retain physically transferable means of payment in accordance with the Law on Prevention of Money Laundering and Financing of Terrorism.

In accordance with the Law on Prevention of Money Laundering and Financing of Terrorism, it is necessary to report:

a) bearer instruments, such as travellers’ checks, transferable instruments (including checks, bills of exchange and money orders), which are either made on the bearer, endorsed without restriction, for the benefit of the fictitious recipient, or in any other form permitting the transfer ownership of them, and incomplete instruments (including checks, bills of exchange and money orders), which have been signed but the name of the recipient has been omitted;

b) cash (paper and coins in circulation as a medium of exchange).

As of January 1, 2018, the applicant must submit a new Fund Transfer Application Form, where all white sections should be filled in capital letters and in dark pen (one letter / number in a corresponding box will be inserted, where indicated) ), sections in grey shall be completed by the competent customs authority.

The application form, including the instructions for completing the form may be found on the Customs Administration website, at the following link:

http://www.upravacarina.rs/cyr/Informacije/Stranice/PrijavaPrenosaSredstava.aspx

You may contact the Games of Chance Administration for all the relevant information at the following address:

11070 Belgrade,
Omladinskih brigada Str.
Phone: +381 11 311 7639
Fax:+381 11 311 7572
e-mail: igre.na.srecu@uis.gov.rs

The Financial System Division of the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Serbia performs normative tasks related to the preparation of laws and other regulations governing the conditions for establishing and operating of banks and other financial organizations.

Direct supervision of bank operations is the responsibility of the National Bank of Serbia.

National Bank of the Republic of Serbia
Telephone number: 0800 111 110
E-mail: informativni.centar@nbs.rs
http://www.nbs.rs/internet/cirilica/index.html

Postal items being sent abroad and containing the so-called Customs goods may be handed over at any post office. The post office to which the consignment was delivered shall forward that consignment to the customs post office.

The customs post office shall submit the postal items, accompanied with the export declaration and the prescribed documents, to the customs office for the inspection. The export declaration is completed by the consignor. For postal items being sent abroad, a copy of the declaration on Form CN-23 (Act of the World Postal Union) shall be delivered to the customs office with the consignment.

A postal items subject to customs clearance shall be posted by a postal worker for inspection by an authorized customs officer performing the customs clearance. The authorized customs officer who conducted the customs inspection of the package shall sign the certificate and stamp it, and the authorized customs officer who conducted the customs inspection of the postal item shall affix its signature to the consignment and stamp it.

After the inspection of the consignment being sent abroad, the customs post office shall forward the shipment to the alternating mail. Alternating mail is mail that carries out the business of receiving and dispatching postal items in international traffic.

Individuals are exempt from import duties on small value shipments that they receive free of charge from foreign individuals, provided that these shipments are not of a commercial nature, up to a total value of up to EUR 70, in RSD equivalent.

The shipment is of non-commercial nature if:

1) these are occasional shipments,
2) the consignment consists of goods intended exclusively for the personal use of the beneficiary of the privilege or members of his family, which by its nature and quantity does not indicate that it is a commercial consignment;
3) there is no obligation of cosignee to pay.

The customs authority does not charge a fee for performing customs control, as well as it does not charge a fee in other cases of application of customs regulations during regular business hours.

The Law on Republican Administrative Fees (“RS Official Gazette”, No. 50/11) abolished the fee for accepting a postal customs document.

Costs related to the services of postal operators shall not be subject to customs regulations.

The customs authority may, at the request of a legal person whose business is express conveyance and delivery of postal items, approve a special procedure for the declaration of such items.

The express shipment process is urgent.

When it comes to express shipments, instead of documents used in regular postal traffic, the operator, ie. the person involved in the transfer and delivery of express consignments, may announce to the customs authority the arrival of the consignments by the consolidated manifest, in order to expedite the handling of these consignments.

There is a prescribed order of entering the data in the manifest, depending on the type of shipment. Most of these shipments are subject to the rule that they are to be recorded on the manifest and for some there is an obligation to file a declaration, regular or supplementary (Articles 420 to 424 of the Decree on Customs Procedures and Customs Forms).

The Law on Electronic Document, Electronic Identification and Confidentiality Services in Electronic Commerce (“Official Gazette of the RS”, No. 94/17) stipulates that an electronic document may not be challenged with validity or power of evidence simply because it is in electronic form.

Given that customs regulations provide for the possibility of completing customs formalities using the electronic data exchange system, it is undoubted that the invoice sent in an electronic form is a valid document in the process of determining the customs value.

The goods for which the customs procedure is to be carried out must be included in the declaration for that customs procedure. The declaration must be accompanied by all the documents necessary for the application of the regulations governing the customs procedure for which the goods are declared. What documents are required for customs clearance is not specified in the regulation, which implies that the declarant may submit all the documents he/she deems necessary, which confirm the information contained in the declaration.

There are six methods of calculating the customs value of imported goods and the customs authority is obliged to apply them in the following order:

1) the transaction value method;
2) the method of transaction value of identical goods;
3) the method of transaction value of similar goods;
4) deduction method (unit price method);
5) the method of calculated value;
6) the method of determining the customs value based on the data available in the customs territory of the Republic of Serbia.

The basic and most important method, which must be applied whenever the conditions prescribed for its application are fulfilled, is based on the transaction value of the goods. Articles 51 to 64 of the Customs Law (“RS Official Gazette”, No. 95/18) contain provisions on determining the customs value of goods, and in Art. 103-125 of the Decree on Customs Procedures and Customs Formalities (Official Gazette of the RS, No. 39/19) these legal provisions are elaborated in a more detailed manner.

Article 60 of the Customs Law provides for the obligation of the customs authority to provide the importer, at his request, with a written explanation of the manner in which the customs value of the imported goods is determined.

In doing so, the importer has the right to appeal the first instance decision taken in the administrative procedure by the customs authority (Article 30 of the Customs Law).

If the imported goods have not been released for free circulation (i.e. no import customs formalities have been completed or no import duties have been paid), then they have the status of foreign goods and may be re-exported, applying formalities related to exporting the goods.

If the goods were released for free circulation and a customs duty was paid for them, those goods may be taken out of the customs territory by the ordinary course of export. In doing so, repayment of the customs duty may be requested, subject to the conditions of Article 104 of the Customs Law.

For all complaints related to the work of the customs service, you may contact the Internal Control Department of the Customs Administration at the following telephone number: 011/311 73 10 (Working hours 8 am – 4 pm) or at the telephone number: 066 / 303-300 (24 hours available).

E-mail: unutrasnja_kontrola@carina.rs

The conditions and manner of exercising the right to a VAT refund to a passenger, who has no permanent or temporary residence in the Republic of Serbia (hereinafter: passenger), for goods purchased in the Republic of Serbia and sent abroad, are prescribed by the Law on VAT and Art. 83 - 86 of the Rulebook on Value Added Tax (''Official Gazette of RS '' No. 37/21, 64/21, hereinafter: the Rulebook).

A passenger who sends goods purchased in the Republic of Serbia abroad in personal luggage, for non-commercial purposes, is entitled to a VAT refund if:

1) the goods are shipped before the expiration of three calendar months after the end of the calendar month in which the goods were purchased;

2) the total value of delivered goods is equal to or greater than RSD 6.000 including VAT;

3) he has evidence that he has sent them abroad.

Personal luggage is considered to be luggage in which the passenger sends the purchased goods abroad. The type and quantity of goods must not be such as to indicate that they are goods for commercial purposes.

The total value of delivered goods is the value of goods stated in one invoice or in several invoices of the same seller issued in the period starting from the day of issuing the first invoice until the end of three calendar months following the calendar month in which the first invoice was issued.

The passenger has the right to a VAT refund if he bought the goods in the seller's facility where the seller performs the activity of selling goods.

Evidence that the passenger has shipped goods abroad is considered to be:

1) passenger's request for VAT refund in paper or electronic form issued in accordance with the Rulebook, certified by the customs authority;

2) invoice for delivered goods.

An invoice is a document issued in accordance with the Law on VAT, as well as a fiscal slip, i.e a fiscal invoice issued in accordance with the law governing turnover recording.

The seller charges the buyer the total value of the delivered goods with VAT.

Issuance of VAT refund request

At the request of the passenger who buys goods, the seller of goods in the Republic fills in and issues, i.e prepares (hereinafter: issues) a request for VAT refund, in paper form on the ZPPPDV form or in electronic form, on the document of the operator authorized by the seller before sale to refund VAT to the passenger.

Issuance of a request for VAT refund in paper form

The passenger's request for a VAT refund in paper form (ZPPPDV) is issued in three copies, of which the seller gives the original and one copy to the buyer, and keeps the other copy in his documentation. In that case, the invoice and the passenger's request for a VAT refund must be signed by the seller.

When leaving the customs territory of the Republic of Serbia, the passenger presents to the customs authority the purchased goods, as well as the invoice, i. e. invoices and the original and a copy of the passenger's request for a VAT refund issued in paper form.

Before confirming the fulfillment of the conditions for VAT refund to the passenger, the customs authority verifies the data prescribed by the Rulebook and if the conditions are met, the customs authority certifies the original request of the passenger for VAT refund and the attached invoices with signature and stamp. The original, i.e the originals of the invoice and the passenger's request for a VAT refund, shall be returned by the customs authority to the passenger, and a copy of the passenger's request for a VAT refund shall be kept for its needs.

Issuance of VAT refund request in electronic form

The seller may also issue in electronic form the passenger's request for a VAT refund, on the document of the operator authorized by the seller for the VAT refund to the passenger before the sale of the goods. A copy of the request issued in electronic form is printed by the seller and handed over to the buyer, in which case the request and the invoice do not have to contain the seller's signature.

When leaving the customs territory of the Republic of Serbia, the customs authority inspects the request in its information system, i. e. inspects the printed copy of the passenger's request for VAT refund if there is an interruption in the functioning of the information system and checks the data to confirm the conditions for VAT refund.

If the conditions for VAT refund are met, the customs authority certifies the passenger's request for VAT refund with an electronic stamp in the information system, i. e. certifies the printed copy of the passenger's request for VAT refund with signature and stamp, if there is an interruption in the information system. After that, the customs authority returns the invoice or invoices to the passenger, and if at the moment of checking the fulfillment of conditions, due to the interruption of the information system, he certified with a signature and stamp the printed copy of the passengers request for VAT refund, the customs authority apart from the invoice returns to the passenger also the certified copy of the printed copy of the passengers request for VAT refund.

In the event that the customs authority determines that the conditions prescribed by the Rulebook are not met, it shall enter the date and reasons for the rejection of the request in the passenger's request for a VAT refund and shall sign it.

Submitting of VAT refund request

The paid VAT is refunded to the passenger or other applicant if, within 12 months from the day of sending the goods abroad, he submits to the seller from whom the goods were purchased or to the operator the documentation on which the customs authority confirmed that the conditions for VAT refund are met.

By submitting the documentation, it is considered that the passenger's request for a VAT refund has been submitted.

The passenger's request for a VAT refund can be submitted in person, by mail or through another person. If the passenger's request for a VAT refund is submitted by mail, the passenger must indicate the account to which the VAT refund will be made..

If the passenger's request for VAT refund is submitted to the seller, the seller returns to the passenger the total amount of VAT paid as part of the fee for purchased goods in the Republic of Serbia (hereinafter: total VAT), reduced or without deduction for the seller's fee (commission). 

If the passenger's request for a VAT refund is submitted to the operator, the operator has the right to charge the passenger a fee (commission) on that basis, so that he refunds the passenger the total amount of VAT reduced by the operator's fee (commission).

VAT refund to the passenger is made in RSD, cash payment or payment to the account specified in the passenger's request for VAT refund submitted by mail.

Payment in cash is made immediately, and payment to the account within 15 days from the date of receipt of the passenger's request for VAT refund.

The passenger, i. e. another person through whom the passenger submitted to the seller or operator the passenger's request for VAT refund, confirms on the original passenger's request for VAT refund that VAT has been refunded in cash, and if the passenger's VAT refund request is issued electronically by the corresponding certificate in the information system.

Examples:

Example 1: If a passenger bought certain goods on May 17. 2021. he will be entitled to a VAT refund if:

1) he send the goods abroad no later than August 31. 2021.

2) the value of the goods is equal to or greater than RSD 6.000 including VAT

3) he has evidence that he has shipped the goods abroad (as evidence is considered: the passenger's VAT refund request in paper or electronic form, as well as the invoice)

If the passenger sends the goods abroad, e.g. on August 15. 2021. he will exercise the right to a refund if he submits the documentation for the refund no later than August 14. 2022. The documentation is submitted in paper form to the seller (directly, by mail or through another person), and in electronic form it is submitted to the operator.

Example 2: If a passenger has purchased certain goods from the same seller more than once and if he received the first invoice on 17. May 2021 and the last on 25. August, he will be entitled to a VAT refund if:

1) all goods purchased from the same seller are sent abroad no later than August 31. 2021.

2) the total value of goods purchased from the same seller is equal to or greater than RSD 6.000 including VAT

3) he has evidence that all goods purchased in the period from May 17. to August 25. 2021. were shipped abroad (as evidence is considered: the passenger's VAT refund request in paper or electronic form, as well as the invoice)

If the passenger sends all the goods abroad, e.g. on August 15. 2021. he will exercise the right to a refund if he submits the documentation for the refund no later than August 14. 2022. The documentation is submitted in paper form to the seller (directly, by mail or through another person), and in electronic form it is submitted to the operator.

The ZPPPDV Form can be downloaded here .