Receiving Foreign Payments in Serbia: Raspored Priliva, Šifre, and Wise

Last updated: August 2026. This guide reflects the Zakon o deviznom poslovanju ("Sl. glasnik RS", br. 62/2006, 31/2011, 119/2012, 139/2014, 30/2018 i 19/2025) and the Uputstvo za sprovođenje Odluke o uslovima i načinu obavljanja platnog prometa sa inostranstvom ("Sl. glasnik RS", br. 24/2007 … 27/2025).

What the bank actually does when money arrives from abroad

A payment from abroad does not reach your account until you tell the bank what it is for. Uputstvo t. 7 st. 1 obliges the bank to credit the beneficiary's account, within the period set by the underlying Odluka, once two conditions are met: the foreign bank has reported that the currency was credited to the Serbian bank's account, and the bank has received from you the podatak o osnovu naplate — the basis on which you are being paid — together with the data needed to execute the payout.

That second condition is the whole point. The money has reached your bank and stays off your account until you supply the basis.

The step where you supply that basis is what every Serbian bank calls the raspored deviznog priliva — allocating the foreign inflow. The phrase is banking vocabulary, not a statutory term; the obligation behind it is the one in t. 7.

What you submit is always the same three things:

• The amount you are allocating. One inflow can be split across several invoices.
• The invoice number, which banks often label kontrolnik or broj fakture.
• The šifra osnova naplate — a three-digit code describing what the payment is for.

Some banks also ask you to attach the invoice or the contract. The Uputstvo requires a document only where one is prescribed as a condition of payout, as t. 8 does for credit transactions through the KZ and KO obrasci. For an ordinary service invoice the attachment is bank practice, applied differently by different banks.

Most banks run the step inside e-banking, where the inflow waits in a neraspoređeni prilivi queue until you clear it.

Money you never allocate: šifra 909 and šifra 109

Money you never allocate is booked to the bank's foreign-currency liabilities account under šifra osnova 909, and returned to the bank it came from under šifra osnova 109 if the conditions for payout are never met. Uputstvo t. 9 prescribes both steps; the bank does not hold the payment informally.

Šifra osnova naplate: 302, 305 and 307

In everyday practice 302 covers computer programming, 305 covers consulting, and 307 covers other services with no more specific code. Between them they cover almost every Serbian paušalac in IT and consulting.

These are the codes Serbian banks and paušal practitioners consistently name for this work, cross-checked across sources rather than read off the codebook here. The codebook is Prilog 2 — Šifarnik osnova naplate, plaćanja i prenosa u platnom prometu sa inostranstvom, printed with the NBS Uputstvo as an integral part of it (t. 5), and it does get amended.

In practice, treat the list your bank shows in e-banking as the authoritative one. It reproduces that codebook, it is what you actually pick from, and the bank keeps it current.

Pick the code that describes the work you invoiced: it feeds the National Bank's balance-of-payments statistics, so allocating a service fee under a capital-account basis such as a loan is a misstatement to the bank. The šifra has no effect on your tax, and it never appears in your KPO knjiga, which records invoices rather than bank movements.

The EUR 1,000 trajni nalog for recurring clients

For inflows up to EUR 1,000 — or the equivalent in another currency — received on the same basis, you can give the bank a standing instruction and stop allocating each payment by hand. Uputstvo t. 7 st. 4 says the beneficiary "može dati banci trajni nalog o osnovu naplate za ove prilive, ako te prilive ostvaruje po istom osnovu", and the bank then credits each payment within the normal deadline without asking again.

Three conditions travel with it:

• The per-inflow ceiling is EUR 1,000. It applies to each individual payment, not to a monthly or annual total.
• The basis must be the same every time. A trajni nalog is for a repeating relationship — the same client, the same kind of service, the same code.
• Anything above the ceiling goes back to manual allocation. A EUR 2,500 invoice from the same client still needs its own raspored.

It is worth setting up if you invoice the same client a small amount every month. Ask your bank how it words the instruction and what its own limits are, because a bank may apply an internal cap below the EUR 1,000 in the Uputstvo.

The "30 days to justify a devizni priliv" rule does not exist

No deadline of 30 days to justify a foreign inflow appears in the Zakon o deviznom poslovanju or in the NBS Uputstvo. It is repeated constantly in forums and Serbian-language guides, but you cannot point to it in a regulation.

What the Uputstvo says is narrower and, in practice, stricter: the bank credits you when it has the basis (t. 7 st. 1), and until then the money sits on 909 and can be returned under 109 (t. 9).

The one deadline in the text runs against the bank, not against you. Once it holds the basis it must credit your account within the period set by t. 4 st. 3 of the underlying Odluka. Nothing in either instrument starts a clock on you.

Invoicing a domestic client in euros

You may write the contract in EUR, but the payment itself between two Serbian residents is made in dinars. ZDP čl. 34 st. 1 requires payment, collection and transfer between residents in the Republic to be in dinars. ZDP čl. 34 st. 10 then allows the contract to be denominated in foreign currency — the valutna klauzula — while settlement under it stays in dinars.

So a domestic invoice can quote "EUR 1,200, payable in RSD at the NBS middle rate on the payment date" and be entirely correct. What it cannot do is ask a Serbian client to send euros.

None of this touches the ordinary export case. Invoicing a foreign client in EUR and being paid in EUR to your devizni račun is unaffected by čl. 34. The mandatory fields and the "nije u sistemu PDV" note for those invoices are covered in invoicing foreign clients.

Wise, Payoneer and PayPal

They are usable for receiving payments from abroad, which you then withdraw to your Serbian devizni račun. They are not a channel for domestic payments between residents.

Two consequences follow.

The withdrawal, not the client's payment, is what your bank sees. It arrives with the platform as the sender, so the invoice number you enter in the raspored is what links it back to your actual client. Where one withdrawal covers several invoices, split the allocation across them.

Platform fees do not reduce your revenue. Your KPO records the invoiced amount, not the net amount that survived the platform's cut and the bank's conversion. That gap is the usual cause of a bank statement that will not reconcile against the book — see KPO vs bank statement.

This inbound-yes, domestic-no reading is the settled practitioner position rather than a line you can quote from one article, so treat an unusual setup — a large balance held abroad, suppliers paid from it — as a question for your accountant.

Which NBS rate, and which date

The type of rate is fixed by law; the date is not. ZDP čl. 41 st. 2: "Za potrebe knjigovodstva i statistike primenjuje se zvanični srednji kurs dinara." Applying the buying rate, the selling rate or the rate your bank used is a prekršaj, and for a preduzetnik it carries 150,000 to 500,000 RSD (ZDP čl. 61 t. 37).

The National Bank publishes one list per business day, "za potrebe knjigovodstva i statistike, kao i za obračun carine i drugih uvoznih dažbina". A list is valid from 08:00 on its date until 08:00 on the day the next list is formed, and on weekends and public holidays the previous business day's list stays in force.

For scale: list no. 157 of 20.8.2026 put 1 EUR at 117.3586 RSD.

Whatever date you settle on, the bank's own conversion rate is irrelevant to the book. The difference between the two is a kursna razlika — a banking outcome, not revenue. The mechanics of the entry are in the KPO guide.

How a foreign inflow counts toward the two limits

Foreign-currency revenue counts in full towards the 6,000,000 RSD paušal limit and generally not towards the 8,000,000 RSD VAT threshold.

The VAT side turns on two provisions. ZPDV čl. 33 st. 6 limits ukupan promet to the supplies in čl. 28 st. 1 t. 1) and 2) — those taxed in Serbia and those exempt with credit under čl. 24 — and leaves out t. 3), a supply performed abroad.

A service to a business client established outside Serbia has its place of supply in the client's country (ZPDV čl. 12 st. 4), so it lands in t. 3).

Čl. 12 sets special rules for particular categories of service, so check an unusual one rather than assuming.

One detail decides when a foreign invoice lands in the paušal count: the 6,000,000 RSD limit is measured on invoices issued, not on payments collected.

The Poreska uprava's published answer of 29 January 2026 puts turnover in the period in which the supply was performed and the transaction was documented by an issued invoice and entered in the KPO, regardless of whether and when payment was collected. An invoice issued in December and paid in February belongs to December.

So a slow-paying client cannot push revenue into the next year, and the raspored — a banking step — has no effect on which year the revenue falls in. Both thresholds are covered in revenue limits.

Key takeaways

1. The bank credits a foreign inflow only after it receives the basis of collection from you (Uputstvo t. 7 st. 1) — the raspored deviznog priliva, which needs the amount, the invoice number and the šifra osnova naplate.
2. Unallocated funds sit on šifra 909 and go back to the sending bank under šifra 109 if the conditions for payout are never met (Uputstvo t. 9).
3. Inflows up to EUR 1,000 on the same basis can be covered by a trajni nalog, after which the bank credits each one without asking (Uputstvo t. 7 st. 4).
4. 302, 305 and 307 are the codes commonly used for programming, consulting and other services — but your bank's published list is the authoritative one.
5. The widely repeated "30 days to justify an inflow" is not in the law. No such deadline appears in ZDP or the NBS Uputstvo — the only deadline in the text runs against the bank — so whatever deadline applies to you is your bank's, and it is worth having in writing.
6. Contracting with a domestic client in EUR is allowed; payment between residents in Serbia is in dinars (ZDP čl. 34 st. 1 i st. 10).
7. The rate type is prescribed (zvanični srednji kurs, ZDP čl. 41 st. 2; applying another rate is a prekršaj carrying 150,000 to 500,000 RSD for a preduzetnik under čl. 61 t. 37); the rate date for a non-VAT paušalac is not. The invoice-or-supply-date convention is practice, so apply it consistently.
8. Foreign revenue counts in full towards the 6,000,000 RSD paušal limit and generally not towards the 8,000,000 RSD VAT threshold (ZPDV čl. 33 st. 6, read with čl. 28 st. 1 and čl. 12 st. 4), and the paušal count runs on invoices issued rather than payments collected.

Frequently asked questions

Does a Serbian paušalac have to complete a raspored deviznog priliva for every payment from abroad?

Yes, unless a standing instruction covers it. Under tačka 7 of the NBS Uputstvo, the bank credits the beneficiary's account only once it has received the basis of collection from the beneficiary along with the data needed to execute the payout. Until you supply that, the money is at the bank but not on your account. The only exception is a trajni nalog for repeating inflows up to EUR 1,000.

Larger inflows always need their own allocation, even from a client you invoice every month.

What is šifra osnova naplate 302, 305 and 307 for a Serbian paušalac?

They are the three-digit codes describing what a foreign payment is for. In everyday practice 302 is used for computer programming and software services, 305 for consulting, and 307 for other services that have no more specific code. The code affects the National Bank's balance-of-payments statistics, not your tax, and it never appears in your KPO book. Use the code list your own bank shows in e-banking, because it reproduces the National Bank's codebook, it is what you actually pick from, and the codebook does get amended.

What happens if a paušalac never allocates a devizni priliv?

The bank books the amount to a foreign-currency liabilities account under šifra osnova 909, where it is held rather than credited to you. Tačka 9 of the NBS Uputstvo then obliges the bank either to reverse that entry and pay you out once the conditions are met, or to return the same amount to the bank it came from under šifra osnova 109. A returned payment costs another round of transfer fees and restarts the collection with your client.

Is there really a 30-day deadline to justify a devizni priliv in Serbia?

No such deadline was found in the Zakon o deviznom poslovanju or in the NBS Uputstvo, despite how often the figure is repeated. What the rules actually establish is that unallocated funds sit on šifra 909 and can be returned to the sending bank under šifra 109. The only deadline in the text runs against the bank, which must credit you once it holds the basis of collection. Any deadline you are given is your bank's internal policy, so ask your bank for its actual window in writing rather than relying on a forum figure.

Can a Serbian paušalac set up a trajni nalog for recurring foreign inflows?

Yes, for inflows up to EUR 1,000 or the equivalent in another currency, received on the same basis. Tačka 7 stav 4 of the NBS Uputstvo allows the beneficiary to give the bank a standing instruction about the basis of collection, after which the bank credits each individual payment within the normal deadline without separately asking for it. The ceiling applies per inflow, not per month, so a larger invoice from the same client still needs a manual allocation.

Is Wise legal for a Serbian paušalac to receive payments from foreign clients?

Yes, for receiving money from abroad that you then withdraw to your Serbian foreign-currency account. What it is not is a channel for domestic payments, because payment between two residents in Serbia is made in dinars through the domestic system. Note that the withdrawal from Wise to your bank is itself a foreign inflow that needs its own allocation, and that the invoice number you enter should be the one identifying your actual client rather than the platform.

Can a Serbian paušalac use Payoneer or PayPal to get paid by foreign clients?

Yes, on the same terms as Wise: they work for receiving foreign payments that you then withdraw to your devizni račun, and not for domestic payments between residents. Your KPO records the invoiced amount, not the net amount left after platform fees and the bank's conversion, so expect the credited figure to be smaller than the invoice. Keep the platform's transaction records so each withdrawal can be matched back to specific invoices.

Can a Serbian paušalac issue an invoice in euros to a domestic client?

You can denominate the contract and the invoice in euros, but the payment between two Serbian residents is made in dinars. Član 34 stav 1 of the Zakon o deviznom poslovanju puts resident-to-resident payment, collection and transfer in dinars, while stav 10 allows contracting in foreign currency with settlement in dinars — the valutna klauzula. In practice the invoice quotes the euro amount and states that it is payable in dinars at a stated exchange rate. Invoicing a foreign client in euros and being paid in euros is a different case and is unaffected.

Which NBS exchange rate date does a Serbian paušalac use for a EUR invoice in the KPO book?

The type of rate is fixed by law but the date is not. Član 41 stav 2 of the Zakon o deviznom poslovanju requires the official middle rate for bookkeeping and statistics, and breaching that is an offence. No rule prescribes the date for a non-VAT paušalac: the VAT law's conversion rule binds VAT payers, the accounting law covers only entrepreneurs keeping double-entry books, and the KPO pravilnik prescribes no conversion rule at all. Using the middle rate on the invoice or supply date is common practice rather than a prescribed rule, so choose one basis and apply it consistently.

Does foreign-currency revenue count toward the 6,000,000 RSD paušal limit?

Yes. Converted to dinars, revenue from foreign clients counts in full toward the 6,000,000 RSD paušal threshold in član 40 of the Zakon o porezu na dohodak građana. It generally does not count toward the 8,000,000 RSD VAT registration threshold, because that count covers only supplies taxable in Serbia and the place of supply for a service to a foreign business client is the client's country. The count is based on invoices issued and entered in the KPO, not on payments collected, so a late-paying client does not move revenue into the following year.

Sources

• Zakon o deviznom poslovanju — "Sl. glasnik RS", br. 62/2006, 31/2011, 119/2012, 139/2014, 30/2018 i 19/2025 (čl. 34 st. 1 i st. 10; čl. 41 st. 2; čl. 61 t. 37)
• Uputstvo za sprovođenje Odluke o uslovima i načinu obavljanja platnog prometa sa inostranstvom — Narodna banka Srbije, "Sl. glasnik RS", br. 24/2007 … 27/2025 (t. 7 i t. 9)
• Zvanični srednji kurs — kursna lista — Narodna banka Srbije
• Šifarnik osnova naplate, plaćanja i prenosa u platnom prometu sa inostranstvom — Prilog 2 to the Uputstvo above, and an integral part of it (t. 5)
• Zakon o porezu na dohodak građana — "Sl. glasnik RS", br. 24/2001 … 6/2026 (čl. 40 st. 2 t. 4)
• Zakon o porezu na dodatu vrednost — "Sl. glasnik RS", br. 84/2004 … 109/2025 (čl. 12 st. 4; čl. 22; čl. 28 st. 1; čl. 33 st. 1 i st. 6)
• Poreska uprava's answer of 29 January 2026 on when turnover is recognised — carried by Paragraf from Biznis i finansije, 27 January 2026