Paušalac vs Knjigaš: How the Two Serbian Tax Regimes Differ

Last updated: October 2026. Reflects the Zakon o porezu na dohodak građana (ZPDG, "Sl. glasnik RS", br. 24/2001, consolidated through br. 6/2026 – usklađeni din. izn. i 80/2026), the Zakon o doprinosima za obavezno socijalno osiguranje (ZDOSO) and the Uredba o bližim uslovima za paušalno oporezivanje ("Sl. glasnik RS", br. 94/2019, with amendments through 115/2025).

A preduzetnik in Serbia is taxed in one of two ways: paušalno oporezivanje (lump-sum taxation) or vođenje poslovnih knjiga (keeping business books, the "knjigaš" regime). The rates are the same in both. What differs is the base the rates apply to, the paperwork, and who is allowed in.

This guide does not tell you which regime is cheaper. That depends on your assessed base, your real profit and your costs, and it is a calculation for your own numbers, ideally checked by an accountant. What follows is what changes between the two regimes, the formulas, one fictional worked example and the steps to run the comparison yourself.

The core difference in one sentence

Paušalac: you pay on an assessed income (paušalno utvrđen prihod) that the Poreska uprava sets in a rešenje from your activity code and the Uredba's coefficients, whatever you actually earn (ZPDG čl. 33 st. 1).

Knjigaš: you pay on your actual taxable profit (oporeziva dobit): revenue minus the business expenses the tax rules recognise, as shown in your books (ZPDG čl. 33 st. 1).

Everything else follows from that distinction. On the paušal side, revenue and expenses do not enter the tax at all. On the knjigaš side, they are the tax.

Side-by-side comparison

The formulas

Paušalac

Monthly obligation = assessed monthly base × 45.05%

That is 10% income tax (ZPDG čl. 38) plus 35.05% contributions (ZDOSO čl. 44 st. 1), all on the same base (ZDOSO čl. 22 st. 3). The base comes from the rešenje. It is built from a polazna osnovica for your activity code and multiplied by correction coefficients for registration age, your own age and a few other factors (Uredba čl. 4 and čl. 5). The full derivation is in the paušal tax base guide.

Your actual revenue does not appear anywhere in the formula. It matters only for the 6,000,000 RSD ceiling and the VAT threshold.

Knjigaš

Annual income tax = taxable profit × 10% (ZPDG čl. 33 st. 1, čl. 38)

Annual contributions = contribution base × 35.05% (ZDOSO čl. 44 st. 1)

Taxable profit is revenue minus recognised expenses, after the adjustments of the tax balance. Without a lična zarada, the contribution base is that profit (ZDOSO čl. 22 st. 1). It cannot fall below the minimum monthly base (ZDOSO čl. 37) or exceed the maximum (ZDOSO čl. 42). For 2026 those are 51,297 RSD and 732,820 RSD a month. Both tax and contributions are paid as monthly advances and settled after the annual return. Which expenses count, and how the advances work, is where an accountant earns their fee.

A fictional worked example

Paušal side. Assume a rešenje sets an assessed monthly base of 100,000 RSD.

• Income tax, 10%: 10,000 RSD
• PIO, 24%: 24,000 RSD
• Health, 10.3%: 10,300 RSD
• Unemployment, 0.75%: 750 RSD
• Monthly total: 45,050 RSD. Over 12 months: 540,600 RSD.

Whether that year's revenue was 1 million or 5 million RSD, the figure is the same.

Knjigaš side. Assume the same person keeps books for a year with 3,000,000 RSD of revenue, 1,800,000 RSD of recognised expenses and no lična zarada.

• Taxable profit: 1,200,000 RSD
• Income tax, 10%: 120,000 RSD
• Contribution base: 1,200,000 RSD, or 100,000 RSD a month, which sits between the 2026 minimum and maximum
• Contributions, 35.05%: 420,600 RSD
• Annual total: 540,600 RSD, before the cost of keeping books

The numbers were picked so that the two totals meet. They meet because the annual taxable profit (1,200,000 RSD) equals twelve times the assessed monthly base (12 × 100,000 RSD). That is the whole comparison in one line: both regimes apply 45.05%, so compare the annual taxable profit with twelve times the assessed monthly base. Then adjust for the minimum contribution base, the cost of bookkeeping and the obligations that come with each regime.

How to run the comparison on your own numbers

1. Take your assessed monthly base from your rešenje and multiply it by 12. If you are not a paušalac yet, the formula in the tax base guide shows how it is built.
2. Estimate your annual taxable profit: revenue minus the expenses the tax rules would recognise. This is the step that most needs an accountant, because "an expense I paid" and "a recognised expense" are not the same thing.
3. Compare the two bases. Both carry 10% tax and 35.05% contributions. Check the year's minimum and maximum contribution bases if your profit is low or very high.
4. Add what changes besides the tax: an accountant's fee, the annual return, the 6,000,000 RSD ceiling, VAT if you need it, and what you lose or gain in simplicity.
5. Check it with an accountant before you act. A switch has consequences for assets, contracts and VAT that the arithmetic above does not show.

Obligations: the day-to-day difference

As a paušalac, you:

• Keep the KPO knjiga (ZPDG čl. 43 st. 4)
• Make four monthly payments by the 15th of the following month
• Track your revenue against the 6M and 8M limits
• File and pay the eko taksa with your local tax administration
• File no annual return for the paušal tax in a normal year, since the rešenje sets it; the exception is a return by 31 January after a significant change in business (ZPDG čl. 93 st. 2)

As a knjigaš, you:

• Keep business books, which in practice means an accountant
• Collect and keep the documents behind every expense
• File the annual PPDG-1S return
• Keep a register of fixed assets and their depreciation
• File periodic VAT returns if you are in the VAT system

Switching between regimes

Paušalac → knjigaš

• When the conditions cease. If the Poreska uprava establishes that you no longer meet the conditions, for example after crossing the turnover ceiling, it issues a rešenje requiring books from mid-year or from the start of the next year (ZPDG čl. 42 st. 5). Revenue limits covers the timing.
• On entering VAT. A paušalac who becomes a VAT payer must keep books from the day of becoming one, with no separate decision (ZPDG čl. 42 st. 6). Voluntary VAT registration (ZPDV čl. 33 st. 3, čl. 38 st. 5) leads to the same result.
• By your own choice. Paušal status runs until the Poreska uprava establishes that its conditions have ceased (ZPDG čl. 42 st. 4). Check the current route out with the Poreska uprava or an accountant before planning on one.

Knjigaš → paušalac

The request is filed by 31 October of the current year, for the following year (ZPDG čl. 42 st. 1). The prior year's turnover must not exceed 6,000,000 RSD, and the activity must not be on the excluded list (ZPDG čl. 40 st. 2).

A note on the DOO

Some entrepreneurs compare a preduzetnik with a DOO (društvo sa ograničenom odgovornošću). A DOO is a separate legal entity, taxed on its profit, with a further tax when profit is paid out to the owner. It is a different comparison with its own obligations, and it is outside this article. Model it with an accountant.

Key takeaways

1. The rates are the same; the base is not. Paušal: 45.05% of an assessed base set by rešenje. Knjigaš: 10% of taxable profit plus 35.05% contributions on lična zarada or profit (ZPDG čl. 38; ZDOSO čl. 22, čl. 44 st. 1).
2. The comparison is one line: annual taxable profit against twelve times the assessed monthly base, then the minimum contribution base, the cost of books and the obligations.
3. Paušal is simpler to run: KPO, four monthly payments, limits, eko taksa, no annual return for the paušal tax. Books mean an accountant, expense documents and a PPDG-1S return.
4. Not everyone can choose. Excluded activities, outside investors, VAT registration and the 6,000,000 RSD ceiling rule paušal out (ZPDG čl. 40 st. 2).
5. Switching to paušal has a fixed date, 31 October for the following year (ZPDG čl. 42 st. 1). Run the numbers with an accountant first.