Serbian tax residency certificate: who gets one and how (2026)

Short answer: if you live in Serbia, or your business and family life are centred here, or you spend 183 days or more in Serbia within 12 months, you are a Serbian tax resident. The Serbian Tax Administration confirms this with a tax residency certificate, issued on request for a specific calendar year.

Why you need the certificate

• Leaving your old country. Many tax offices will only stop treating you as their resident once you show where you are resident now.
• Double tax treaties. Serbia has double tax treaties with more than 60 countries. To use one, for lower withholding tax on dividends, interest or royalties, the payer or foreign tax office usually asks for a residency certificate.
• Banks and platforms. Banks, brokers and payment platforms ask for proof of tax residency in their self-certification forms.

Who counts as a Serbian tax resident

Under Serbian personal income tax law, you are a resident if at least one of these applies:

1. You have your residence, or the centre of your business and vital interests, in Serbia; or
2. You are present in Serbia for 183 days or more within any 12-month period that starts or ends in the tax year.

If it is clear on your first entry that you will meet one of these tests, you are treated as a resident from that day. More on the rules and tax rates on our Serbian tax residency page.

How to get it, step by step

1. Build the facts first. Residence permit, a registered address in Serbia, a lease or property, a Serbian company or employment, and days actually spent here. The certificate confirms reality; it does not create it.
2. Serbian tax number. As a resident individual you are registered with the Tax Administration through your personal identification number.
3. Request. You submit a request to the Tax Administration for the year you need, stating the purpose and, if relevant, the treaty country.
4. Foreign form, if required. If a foreign tax office or treaty requires its own form, the Serbian Tax Administration certifies that form instead of issuing the standard one.
5. Use and renew. Apostille or translate it if the receiving country asks, and request a new certificate for each new year.

When two countries both claim you

Leaving a country is not always clean. If your old country still treats you as its resident, the tie-breaker rules in the tax treaty decide: permanent home first, then centre of vital interests, then habitual abode, then nationality. A Serbian certificate helps, but a home kept open abroad or a family still living there can tip the result the other way. Plan the move as a whole: home, family, company management and days.

Common mistakes

• Applying for the certificate before you really live in Serbia
• Keeping a permanent home abroad that you still use
• Not deregistering in the old country, where that is required
• Assuming a residence permit alone is enough

General information, not tax advice. Treaty effects depend on your nationality, former country and income; we review your case first.