Law on Amendments of the VAT Law was published in the Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbia no. 153/2020 on 21 December 2020. Below is an overview of the most important changes:
- It is specified that the transfer of the right of disposal on a construction object or economically divisible whole within a construction object, which is considered real estate, as well as movables with the transfer of the right of disposal on real estate could not be considered as an ancillary supply of goods.
- It is specified that the ancillary provision of services is not considered to be the service of renting or leasing the use of a construction object or an economically divisible whole within a construction object that is considered real estate.
- In accordance with the new changes, an opened or alternative investment fund, which does not have the status of a legal entity, and is registered in accordance with the law, is also considered as a VAT payer.
- It is specified that the recipient of goods and services in the field of construction, VAT payer is the tax debtor in case that turnover performed by VAT payer exceeds RSD 500,000 without VAT.
- According to new provision, VAT should not be paid on the supply of goods during inward processing, for which the taxpayer – acquirer would have the right to deduct the input tax if those goods were purchased with calculated VAT.
- It is specified that VAT should not be paid on a transfer of virtual currencies and exchange of virtual currencies for cash.
Keeping records of VAT taxpayers
If the taxpayer in the previous 12 months achieved a total turnover of more than RSD 8 mil. and did not submit the registration application until the expiration of the first deadline for submission of periodic VAT return, the registration application may be submitted even after that deadline, i.e. it will be submitted by the competent authority ex officio.
This taxpayer has the right to deduct the previous tax for the purchase of goods and services (including any advance payment), starting from the day of submitting the registration application.
Invoicing
The taxpayer may issue an invoice in electronic form if there is a confirmation of the recipient of the invoice to accept it in electronic form. The recipient’s confirmation is not required when there is a legal obligation to issue invoices electronically.
It is envisaged that the VAT payer has the right to correct the amount of VAT even if he cancelled the invoice in case when the invoice should not have been issued (and not only if he issued a new invoice with corrected VAT amount, or invoice in which VAT is not stated) and if he possesses the recipient’s statement confirming that VAT stated in the invoice that is being cancelled was not used as an input tax.
This Law will be applied from 1 January 2021, and the application of the provision that VAT is not paid when transferring virtual currencies and exchanging those currencies for cash begins with the application of the law governing digital property.
