Bosnia and Herzegovina Tax Overview

The Bosnian tax system at a glance

Bosnia and Herzegovina is a decentralised state: most direct taxes are set and collected separately by the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FBiH), Republika Srpska (RS), and the Brcko District (BD), while VAT and customs are administered nationally. Headline rates are low and broadly flat across the entities.

• Standard tax year — Calendar year (1 January to 31 December) (FBiH / RS Corporate Income Tax Laws)
• Currency — Convertible Mark (BAM / KM), pegged to the euro at 1 EUR = 1.95583 BAM (Central Bank of Bosnia and Herzegovina (currency board))
• Tax authorities — Indirect Tax Authority (ITA/UIO) for VAT and customs nationally; Tax Administration of FBiH and Tax Administration of RS for direct taxes (Law on the Indirect Taxation System in BiH; entity Tax Administration Laws)
• Residence basis of taxation — Residents taxed on worldwide income; non-residents taxed on BiH-source income only (FBiH / RS Personal Income Tax Laws)
• Headline personal income tax rate (FBiH) — 10% percent (flat) (FBiH Law on Personal Income Tax)
• Headline personal income tax rate (RS) — 8% percent (flat) (RS Law on Personal Income Tax)
• Headline corporate income tax rate — 10% percent (FBiH, RS and Brcko District) (FBiH / RS Corporate Income Tax Laws)
• Does VAT exist? — Yes — a single national VAT applies at 17% with no reduced rate percent (Law on Value Added Tax (BiH))
• Annual corporate income tax return deadline — Within 30 days of the deadline for submitting financial statements (by end of March following the tax year) ((approx — confirm; deadline differs slightly by entity)) (FBiH / RS Corporate Income Tax Laws)
• VAT return frequency — Monthly (tax period is the calendar month) (Law on Value Added Tax (BiH))