Nikšić: This is the first step in fiscal reform; Mijatović: No employer will be able to pay less than 1,200 KM

(Patria) - A thematic session of the Government of the Federation of BiH on fiscal reform was held in Sarajevo today. A press conference was held after its conclusion.

Nikšić: First step

Prime Minister Nermin Nikšić was the first to address the journalists, stating that this is the first step in the fiscal reform that has been discussed since 2015.

Nikšić stated that amendments to the Income Tax Law will lead to a minimum wage higher than 1,000 KM, which he assures could come into effect from January next year.

According to him, solutions are being sought, and plans are being made to relieve the economy and improve the status of workers. And today, the federal prime minister added, the first step has been taken.

- We adopted the Draft Law on Fiscalization of Financial Transactions in the Federation. The plan is for it to be considered at a session of the House of Representatives on November 27, and then at the House of Peoples - Nikšić points out.

He also says that it is a law mainly related to professional procedures for creating a platform for online fiscalization. Nikšić hopes that the law will be adopted by the end of this year and come into force at the beginning of next year.

Nikšić added that the development of the situation and budget revenues will be monitored in order to make amendments to the Contributions Law and further relieve employers and improve the status of workers.

Today, the ministers, he explained, had the Law on Amendments to the Income Tax Law as the second item, which will be sent to the parliamentary procedure under an abbreviated procedure. Regarding the Labor Law and acquired workers' rights, he explained, work performance per worker is being introduced as a non-taxable category.

He adds that this will create the conditions for a decree on minimum worker earnings in the FBiH to be adopted by the end of the year.

- This will practically protect 270,000 workers in the FBiH who have earnings less than one thousand KM and create conditions for them to have higher earnings than those planned by the minimum wage law, together with meal allowance and earnings.

In this way, we would enable employers to pay better support to workers, and when we calculate that, they would have lower contributions than if we went for a radical reform of 28.5 percent. Employers would pay contributions of 26.8 percent - Nikšić emphasized.

Mijatović: Decree on minimum earnings

The Federal Minister of Development, Entrepreneurship and Crafts and Deputy Prime Minister Vojin Mijatović stated that the moment the amendments to the Income Tax Law are adopted, a decree on minimum monthly earnings for workers in the FBiH will follow.

He stated that from January 1, 2025, the minimum wage will not be 1,000 KM, and that no employer in the FBiH will be able to pay less than 1,200 KM.

- Not only have we fulfilled that famous thousand marks, after the decree comes into force, we hope by the end of this year, employers will not be able to pay below 1,200 KM - Mijatović added.

Kraljević: Modernization of the tax system

The Federal Minister of Finance Toni Kraljević claims that the fiscalization reform imposed itself and that this is not a set of these laws, but the first phase in that process.

According to Kraljević, the goal is to combat tax evasion and minimize the so-called grey market, then to combat unfair competition and raise awareness of the importance of taking receipts.

And there is also, Kraljević adds, the modernization of the tax system and enabling electronic data recording. All of this, the minister points out, leads to a central fiscalization platform that will be a collector of this information.

In this way, he explains, greater supervision and control are being exercised, tax evasion is being prevented, and revenue collection is being improved.

Speaking about the Income Tax Law, Kraljević says that the plan is to provide employers with the opportunity to give employees a certain compensation without taxation.

- Conditions are being created to adopt a decree by the end of the year on mandatory minimum earnings for workers in the FBiH, which will protect 270,000 workers in the FBiH who, according to data, have earnings below 1,000 KM.

So, instead of a law on a minimum wage of 1,000 KM, which was previously promised, the FBiH Government now plans to adopt a decree that will allow employers to pay a certain untaxed compensation to workers earning less than 1,000 KM - Kraljević said.