LumenDoes Serbia give a salary tax break to people who move there for work?
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Yes. Serbia's Personal Income Tax Law reduces the salary tax base by 70% for a newly settled taxpayer hired on a permanent contract by a qualified Serbian employer. The relief lasts five years from the employment contract. You must move to Serbia, be resident by your centre of interests, and meet a monthly salary threshold.
Key facts
| What | The law says | Source |
|---|---|---|
| The relief | The salary tax base is reduced by 70% | Personal Income Tax Law, art. 15v(1) |
| Kind of job | Permanent (indefinite) employment with a qualified employer, in a post that needs special professional education and cannot easily be filled from the local labour market | art. 15v(1) |
| Qualified employer | A Serbian resident employer that is not a related party of your previous employer | art. 15v(2) |
| Exception | Any Serbian resident employer qualifies if, since 1990, you were a Serbian resident by domicile or centre of interests for at least three years | art. 15v(3) |
| Who is “newly settled” | (1) You did not mainly stay in Serbia in the 24 months before the contract, or (2) you are under 40 and in the 12 months before the contract you mainly stayed abroad for further education or professional training | art. 15v(4) |
| Monthly salary that proves the job condition | More than RSD 439,692 for group (1); more than RSD 293,128 for group (2) | art. 15v(5)–(6) |
| Residence condition | Settle in Serbia when you start the job or within a reasonable time, and be tax resident by centre of business and vital interests and for tax treaty purposes | art. 15v(7) |
| How long | Five years from the employment contract, even if you change employer, while the conditions are met | art. 15v(8) |
| From when | From the first salary paid for the month in which proof of the conditions is obtained from the competent authority | art. 15v(9) |
What the 70% means
The 70% is not a lower rate. Salary tax stays at 10% (art. 16). The law reduces the base: 70% of the salary base is a part of the salary on which no salary tax is paid (art. 15v(10)).
The salary thresholds
The law says that a monthly salary above the threshold counts as proof that the job needs special professional education. The thresholds are three times (group 1) and two times (group 2) the average monthly salary in Serbia, and the Government publishes them every year (art. 12a(2)–(5)). The amounts above are the ones in the consolidated text in force from 1 January 2026.
Who decides
The Minister of Finance sets out in more detail how the right is used (art. 15v(11)). The relief starts only once proof of the conditions is obtained from the competent authority.
Sources
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