Working with clients abroad?

Pick where you belong and we will get into the details of your situation:

The common thread is not the industry, it is the foreign-currency income

The Tax Administration is not particularly interested in whether you write code or edit video. What matters is that the money comes from abroad, in a foreign currency, from a client who is not in Serbia. That produces the same list of questions for everyone: how the payment is documented, at which exchange rate it is booked, whether you enter the VAT system, whether you pass the independence test and which tax regime is cheapest for you.

That is why it all lives on one page. If you do not recognise yourself in either of the two categories above, you are still in the right place.

Four ways to get paid from abroad

Which of these four columns is yours has nothing to do with your profession and everything to do with the numbers. We can work it out in half an hour of conversation, with your income and costs on the table.

Six things people most often get wrong

• The platform fee does not come off your turnover. If the client paid 1,000 euros and Upwork kept its cut, your income is the full 1,000. People measure the limit against what lands in their account and quietly blow past it.
• The 8 million VAT threshold applies even when there is no VAT on the invoice. Services to a foreign business are generally outside Serbian VAT, yet they still count towards the threshold. After that comes registration and the informative VAT return.
• One client for years is a red flag. That is the heart of the independence test, and the consequences are paid retroactively.
• Payments with no paperwork. The bank and the Tax Administration want a basis: a contract, an invoice, a platform statement. Money that arrives without documents is far harder to justify afterwards than to prepare for in advance.
• Exchange rates and rate differences. Income is booked at the rate on the day it arrives, and the differences are calculated. A detail that adds up over a year.
• Crossing the limit mid-year. Not the end of the world, but it needs a plan. Here is what that looks like in practice.

What we do for you

• An assessment before you register: which status, which activity code, which regime, with numbers
• Registering the business, filings, foreign-currency account, e-invoicing
• Recording foreign-currency income, exchange rate differences, reporting
• VAT treatment of services supplied abroad, and entering the system when the time comes
• Independence-test risk assessment and what can be fixed in the contract
• Transfer pricing for companies with a foreign parent or related parties
• Annual income tax once you pass the threshold, check it in the calculator
• Everything in English, with you or directly with your client

How working together looks

Remotely, if that suits you. You send documents electronically and we sort questions out by phone, Viber, WhatsApp or email. A good share of our clients working with foreign markets have never walked through our office in Novi Sad, and nobody misses it. If you are outside Serbia or in another time zone, we will find a slot that works for you.

Frequently asked questions

Do I even need to register a business to work for a foreign client?

Not necessarily. If the work is occasional or the income is small, the freelancer regime (Model A or Model B) is often cheaper and simpler than registering, and the return is filed quarterly. Registering pays off once the income becomes regular, once you need to deduct costs, or once a client insists on invoicing from a registered business.

The money arrives on Wise, Payoneer or PayPal. Do I still have to declare it?

Yes. The income exists regardless of which service it passed through or whether it was ever moved to Serbia. What you owe here follows your tax residency and the income you earned, not the bank in between. That is why we ask for the platform statement, not only for what landed in your Serbian account.

Is the platform fee deducted from my turnover?

No. Turnover is the agreed amount, not what is left after the fee. If the client paid 1,000 euros and the platform kept 100, your income is 1,000 euros. This matters for flat-rate entrepreneurs, because the 6 million dinar limit is measured against the full amount.

I have worked for a single foreign client for years. Is that a problem?

That is exactly the situation the independence test looks at, through nine criteria set by the Tax Administration. The test applies to all entrepreneurs, both flat-rate and personal-salary; an LLC is not subject to it. We assess the risk before you register, and if it is high we look at what can change in the contract and the way you work, or we go the LLC route.

Do I charge VAT when invoicing a foreign client?

For most services supplied to a foreign business the place of supply is where the client is, so no Serbian VAT goes on the invoice. But once you pass 8 million dinars of turnover in 12 months you enter the VAT system and file an informative VAT return, even though the invoices still carry no VAT. That one catches a lot of people off guard.

My client sends a contract in English. Does that hold up here?

An English contract works perfectly well as the basis for the payment and for the books. What matters is that it clearly shows what is supplied, to whom and at what price. It is worth having us read it before you sign, because clauses about working hours, exclusivity and equipment feed straight into the independence test.

Can the whole engagement be handled remotely?

Yes. You send documents electronically and we handle questions by phone, Viber, WhatsApp or email. Dragan speaks English, so foreign founders and clients deal with him directly, without a middleman. Many of our clients working with foreign markets have never set foot in the office.

Note: the content of this page is informational and does not constitute tax or legal advice.