TPA Horwath employs around 1,000 employees in 11 countries across Europe: Austria, Albania, Bulgaria, Croatia, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, the Czech Republic and Hungary.
Ivana joined TPA Horwath team in the beginning of 2012 and today she is Director of Tax Department.
For 6 years, before joining the company, she worked as Tax Advisor in one of the “Big Four“ companies in Serbia.
Tell us a bit more about your beginnings in TPA Serbia team.
I have joined TPA Serbia Tax Department team over four years ago.
I listened to the advice of an ex-colleague of mine from a multinational audit company.
I decided to go and test my luck in a company that was just starting to show its international experience and knowledge in our local market, of course with the help of some the finest local experts.
What is the most important business experience you have gained in the company?
Working in a multinational corporation certainly has its advantages, but so does working in new and promising companies that are yet to enter our regional market, such was TPA Horwath group five years ago when it came to Serbia.
The possibility of professional and personal development is really great, and, by working with colleagues from Austria, I learned a lot – especially how to listen to our clients and cater to their needs.
After all, they have decades of experience in the industry, while in Serbia the consulting industry is still relatively young.
With what challenges are faced TPA’s clients in Serbia?
There are many, but this is why we are here to overcome these obstacles together.
Mostly it is difficult for them to understand why everything is going so slowly in Serbia when it comes to procedures and when it comes to working with our state authorities.
Insisting on having documents in paper form is an extremely outdated form of communication with the Tax Administration or other state authorities in Slovenia and Austria.
Some of our legal solutions now exist only on paper, since they are not applied in practice.
The most recent example is the introduction of a withholding tax on services that local companies pay to non-residents.
This tax was introduced with effect from 1st March 2016.
The issue is that nobody really knows which services fall under the scope of such withholding tax..
The legislator has remained vague when introducing the law provision, so now both consultants and our clients are put in an unappealing role to interpret the intention of the legislator from one case to another.
What changes in tax regulations do you see as positive?
My impression is that both the Ministry of Finance and Tax Administration do understand that they cannot remain closed for certain changes and that we can learn a lot from the practice of other tax systems.
Changes in tax laws in the last few years introduced a number of important changes, such as the introduction of transfer pricing rules and the reverse charge VAT mechanism in the construction industry. Although not as fast as we would like to, we still see a positive shift in the development of the tax system in Serbia.
In your opinion, what is the biggest obstacle for foreign investors in this region?
Regulatory uncertainty and sluggishness of the government bodies.
For example, tax laws change frequently and usually without any prior notice.
Public discussions and consultations with the experts and businesses are out of question.
Out of the eleven years that I practice taxes, I do not remember that there was an organised public debate with the aim of presenting a comprehensive effect on business of a newly proposed or an amended tax law provision.
This type of environment is effectively preventing foreign investors to project their businesses in the long, or even in the short run..
Quite often we hear that an investment is prolonged for years, just because of unsolved legal and property issues or unwillingness of our government services to meet business requirements.
What kind of treatment domestic investors have when compared to foreign ones?
I do not think that foreign investors are treated better when it comes to the legal framework.
Foreign investors are certainly more promoted in public, because of their names and the inflow of foreign capital, but I think that domestic investors are treated more favourably in some business segments.
This particularly due to the restrictions introduced the Foreign Exchange Act, even though this law was significantly liberalised in the recent years, primarily in the area of financing business from abroad, the ability to change the creditor / debtor in transactions between resident and non-resident companies or non-recognition of the so-called “Cash pool” method of financing business, which has been recognised for long now in developed countries as an effective instrument of securing liquidity of member companies of a group.
On the other hand, the Government has declared 2016 a year of entrepreneurship. I certainly welcome the initiative, as well as the promotion of the entrepreneurial spirit in Serbia.
In your opinion, is there an alternative to public savings policy?
No. I would say that this is a policy of rational spending of available funds, rather than savings.
Rational spending in the public sector is an imperative.
Let economy serve as an example to us all!
Where do you see Serbia and the region in five years?
Still in the Balkans, much smarter and wiser. I see Serbia as the country that learned from its mistakes and aiming towards continuous development.
Where do you see TPA Serbia in five years?
Still in this region, with a few more conquered territories in Europe. Firmly holding to its image of a trustworthy partner to its clients.