Nikšić promised but no decision: FBiH Government did not adopt decree on payment of non-taxable aid, January salaries without supplement

(Patria) - Although the Prime Minister of FBiH Nermin Nikšić stated at the session on January 19 that the FBiH Government will adopt a new Decree on the payment of non-taxable aid to workers during 2026 with a monthly amount of 250 KM, that decision has not yet been made.

The decree that was valid for 2025 is valid until the end of January but refers to the payment of December salary.

Those employers who are already preparing the January salary could not count on aid to workers because there is no decree.

Although Nikšić claimed that the Government is renouncing revenue in favor of workers in this way, so that employers can increase their income without additional taxes, it is clear that workers, or at least those whose employers used this option, will be without an increase for the month of January.

The amount that was valid for 2025 was initially 450 KM, and from July 2025, when the application of lower contribution rates began, the amount was reduced to 400 KM. For this year, the maximum amount planned is 250 KM.

Regarding other decrees that were valid in 2025, and after the minimum wage increased from 619 to 1000 KM, concerning co-financing of part of the contributions for private employers, and subsidies for low-accumulation activities, they will not be extended.

In 2025, according to official data from the FBiH Tax Administration, there were 6,043 fewer employees than at the end of 2024. The number of employees by place of residence of the employee as of 31.12.2025 is 545,409.

At the same time, the number of pensioners at the end of December was 465,132 with a constant tendency to grow. In 2025 alone, the number of pensioners increased by 11,232.

And while employers are waiting for a new set of fiscal reforms, the FBiH Government has not fulfilled its promise of an additional reduction in contributions. With the change in the Law on Pension and Disability Insurance and the planned increase in pensions by 17 percent (two regular adjustments), almost half of the Budget goes to pension payments.

In the meantime, the FBiH Government has made a decision to increase the base for contributions for self-employed individuals and trades. Thus, tradespeople with liberal professions (programmers, translators, lawyers, service workers, retail stores, self-employed in agriculture and forestry, individual traders) will pay higher contributions.