Serbia to tackle gray economy

 

Amendments to the Serbian tax code along with new controls on the gray economy will contribute to the budget and help reduce the country’s deficit, the Serbian media reported May 14.

”If the stake of grey economy were to be reduced, we could achieve additional EUR 500 to 700 million worth of revenues, which would be equal to 1.3 to 1.7 percent of the GDP,” Serbian Secretary of State for Finance Nikola Corsovic said in a statement.

The size of Serbia’s gray economy is estimated to total 30 percent of GDP, according to Corsovic. It is hoped that the new measures will reduce this to 22-25 percent over the next four years.

The amendments to the tax code will include will include measures aimed at reducing unregistered work, strengthening the controls on industries such as transport and food, preventing the smuggling of products such as tobacco and oil, and reducing money laundering and phantom companies.