The Coalition for Giving is calling for the abolition of VAT on food donations

Belgrade, December 1, 2020 – Ever since the introduction of the value added tax (VAT) in Serbia sixteen years ago, VAT has also been collected on food donations. According to data from 2018, almost 500,000 people in Serbia are not able to meet basic living needs, including food, and the levying of VAT on food donations makes it even harder to help these people.

The abolition of VAT in Serbia would increase food donations by nearly 160 million dinars and would total almost 700 million dinars annually. This would provide approximately 1.2 million additional meals in soup kitchens per year. The proposal is supported by 88% of the population of Serbia according to the survey from September and October 2020.

Therefore, the members of the Coalition for Giving submitted a proposal to the Ministry of Finance to abolish the VAT on food donations before the food expiration date through the new Draft on Amendments to the Law on VAT. The proposal is based on best European practices and EU guidelines. Twenty out of 27 EU countries do not charge VAT on donated food. Additionally, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Agency, by-products of food destruction are one of the biggest air pollutants and have a 8% share in the total greenhouse gas emissions at the global level.

“Given that almost half a million people in Serbia cannot meet basic living needs and that the destruction of food is harmful to the environment, we recommend that VAT on food donations should be abolished. Currently, it is cheaper for companies to wait for the food to expire and destroy it without paying VAT, instead of donating it while the food is still good for use,” the Coalition said.

Amendments to the Law on VAT would create an opportunity for companies to donate food worth hundreds of thousands of euros to the most vulnerable citizens and contribute to the fulfillment of the United Nations’ sustainable development goals, to which Serbia is committed.

Members of the Coalition for Giving – Ana and Vlade Divac Foundation, Trag Foundation, Smart Kolektiv, Catalyst Balkans, Serbian Philanthropy Forum and Forum for Responsible Business submitted the proposal based on the analysis of a cost-benefit analysis of abolishing the obligation to pay VAT in Serbia conducted within Framework for Giving project implemented by the Coalition for Giving and funded by the USAID.

For more information, please contact Miljana Kercu via email at miljana.kercu@divac.com or via phone at +381 62 79 77 46. or more information about the analysis, please contact Milica Miskovic via email at milica@smartkolektiv.org.

Furthermore, you can contact Kruna Savović, Nataša Sarić, Igor Petronijević for more legal information about the Coalition for Giving is calling for the abolition of VAT on food donations or any regular contacts at Živković Samardžić law office.

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Živković Samardžić on the public discussion of the Draft of the Law on Accounting at the Serbian Chamber of Commerce

At the initiative of SMART kolektiv, which was supported by the Koalicija za dobročinstvo (Coalition for benevolence) (LPF) whose members are the representatives of the Živković Samardžić Law Office, Kruna Savović and Nataša Sarić, a public discussion was implemented regarding the Draft of the Law on Accounting, in the period from August to September 2019. In the last year and a half, intensive work was carried out to prepare the draft of the law and the deficiencies shown by the practice of implementing the existing laws during six years were identified through many meetings.

Participants in this public discussion were the representatives of state authorities and institutions, representatives of business associations, such as the Serbian Chamber of Commerce, Foreign Investors Council, American Chamber of Commerce and others, as well as the representatives of auditing and accounting associations and representatives of the academic and civil sector. All participants in the public discussion participated actively and stated their comments regarding the text of the Draft of the Law on Accounting, where during a single public discussion more than 80 different participants submitted their comments regarding the text of the Draft of the Law on Accounting.

The reasons for objections to the Draft of the Law on Accounting submitted by the participants mostly referred to improving the quality of corporate financial reporting and strengthening the trust in financial and audit reports, as well as compliance with the requirements of the new EU regulations and meeting one of the measures for closing chapter six, as well as eliminating the detected deficiencies in existing decisions.

The team consisting of SMART kolektiv and attorneys from the Živković Samardžić Law Office proposed a change to the draft of the law which was adopted in the part referring to non-financial reporting by additional detailing of the obligations of compiling and the manner of compiling these reports. Additionally, the proposal of the team consisting of Smart Kolektiv and Živković Samardžić attorneys stating that other legal entities referred to in Article 2 of the Draft of the Law on Accounting (associations, foundations, endowments, etc.) should still implement special bylaws regulating the Chart of Accounts and the contents and form of financial statements forms, just like in the previous Law on Accounting, was accepted as well.

All mentioned proposals to amend the draft of the Law on Accounting have the purpose to improve the transparency of operation of civil organizations (associations, foundations, endowments) and prevent potential violation of the legal norm.

The law has been in the assembly procedure since 16 September 2019.

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