1,936 fewer workers in retail in four months, FBiH Tax Administration has not yet published April data

By Amra Vrabac

The Tax Administration of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina has not yet published data on collected revenues for the month of April, nor the number of employees. To be fair, on May 2, the number of employees as of April 30 was published by the Federal Prime Minister Nermin Nikšić on his Facebook profile. However, this time the regular report of the Tax Administration of FBiH, which the media used to receive by the 9th of the month for the previous month, has not arrived nor has it been published on the website of the Tax Administration of FBiH.

One of the reasons could be the press conference held by the FBiH Government on May 8 regarding two years of work. At that press conference, Nikšić spoke about the economic reforms they initiated, the increase in the minimum wage, fiscal laws... But not about the actual results of those reforms. The FBiH Government persistently refuses to accept the fact that after the introduction of non-working Sundays, and then the increase in the minimum wage without any preparation or reduction of contributions from 619 to 1,000 KM, there has been a decrease in the number of employees.

At the end of 2024, the FBiH Government made a decision to increase the minimum wage, and the decrees on assistance to private employers and enabling the payment of non-taxable aid up to 450 KM per month to workers came into effect only from February. The first subsidies for part of the contributions were received by employers only in mid-March.

When it comes to these subsidies, the number of workers for whom subsidies were paid differs significantly for January and February.

For January, 14,930 legal and natural persons were eligible, covering 78,120 workers. 10,390,600 KM was allocated for these subsidies. In February, 13,697 entities, i.e., 71,011 workers, were eligible. The difference in the number of workers between the January and February subsidies is 7,109.

Incidentally, the FBiH Government has allocated 100 million KM for the entire year 2025, but if the payment of subsidies continues at this rate, the Government will run out of money in the second half of the year. It should not be forgotten that the government's decree also left the possibility of reducing subsidies.

If we look at the number of employees at the end of December 2024, which was 551,452, and at the end of April 2025, which was 544,442, the difference is 7,010 workers, which almost completely matches the difference in the number of workers for whom subsidies were paid.

The application of the reduced contribution rate begins on July 1, and employers' burdens will be reduced by 13.3 percent. The plan is to reduce contributions by an additional five percent from the beginning of next year. However, this will require amending the Contributions Law again.

Economist and Member of the House of Representatives of the FBiH Parliament Admir Čavalić published data he received from the FBiH Ministry of Finance on the number of workers in retail.

Thus, on 30.11.2024, there were 62,449 workers employed in that sector, and at the end of March, there were 60,513 workers. Non-working Sundays, and then the increase in the minimum wage, resulted in job losses. Especially in local and smaller markets where the number of employees decreased. Thus, there are 1,936 fewer workers in retail in four months. Amendments to the Law on Internal Trade are already being prepared, which will allow work for 16 Sundays a year, plus two more that municipalities and cities will request due to some event, fair, festival, tourism...

This law will soon be sent to the parliamentary procedure.