Novalić clarifies: Federal tax on gifts and inheritance will not be paid

SARAJEVO, (Patria) - Federal Prime Minister Fadil Novalić announced on Facebook tonight, clarifying that tax on gifts and inheritance has been regulated by cantonal laws for decades.

"The proposal for the federal law precisely stipulates that the federal tax on gifts and inheritance will not be paid when cantonal tax is paid or when cantonal law exempts from paying tax on gifts and inheritance. Tax on inheritance and gifts will continue to be paid exclusively according to cantonal law, and even if there is a tax exemption according to cantonal regulations, the tax will not be paid according to the law of the Federation of BiH. All cantons prescribe the obligation of tax on gifts and inheritance in a certain way, as well as tax exemptions.

Most often, close relatives (first inheritance order, often wider) are exempt from tax on inheritance and gifts in the cantons, so for example, if a person in Ključ inherits or receives a house as a gift from their parents, they will not pay cantonal tax, nor federal tax.

However, if anywhere in the Federation of BiH you receive real estate as a gift or inheritance from a person with whom you are not related in any way, for which you have to pay cantonal tax, you will still not pay federal tax.

The reason why tax on inheritance and gifts is mentioned at all in the proposal for the Law on Income Tax of the Federation of BiH is purely technical, because inheritance and gifts represent income, and therefore it was necessary to precisely stipulate that federal tax is not paid on such income," Novalić explained.