Bosnia and Herzegovina: Amended law on tax procedures in Republic of Srpska

Dajana Topic

Amendments to the Law on Tax Procedures in the Republic of Srpska (RS) were adopted by the National Assembly on April 8 2014. The amendments were published in the Official Gazette on April 24 2014 and entered into force on May 2 2014. The major amendments include:

• comprehensive exchange of information in accordance with a special agreement signed between the Tax Administration of RS and other tax administrations in Bosnia and Herzegovina;

• dismissal of the enforcement procedure with regards to taxes for which the payment has been postponed on request of the taxpayer.

As further background information on the corporate and personal income tax in RS, it is important to mention that while the tax year is the calendar year, the Ministry of Finance can approve a tax year for foreign legal entities that corresponds to the tax year in their home country.

Annual tax returns must be submitted by March 31 of the current year for the previous tax year, for both legal entities and individuals. But, if the Ministry of Finance has determined a different tax year for a foreign legal entity, the tax returns must be filed within 90 days after the end of the tax year.

In terms of tax payment, the monthly advance payments are made by the tenth day of the current month for the previous month, based on the previous year's annual tax return. Corporate taxpayers may submit a request for tax assessment if the calculated income is above or below that of the previous year. Final tax payments have to be made by the deadline for filing the annual tax return.

Withheld or prepaid taxes are credited against the final tax liability. In case of any excess, tax is used firstly for compensation of current tax liabilities or other tax obligations, if they exist, while the rest of the excess tax is refunded.

Dajana Topic (dajana.topic@eurofast.eu)

Eurofast Global, Banja Luka Office

Tel: +387 51 961 610

Website: www.eurofast.eu