Company Registration Cost Serbia: The Full Budget, Residence Included

Quick facts

• Government fee to register a limited liability company: 8,000 dinars (~68 EUR) since 1 January 2026. A sole proprietor pays 2,500 dinars (~21 EUR).
• Minimum share capital: 100 dinars (under 1 EUR).
• Notary certification of the founding documents in Serbia: under 5,000 dinars (~43 EUR) in total.
• Single permit for residence and work: about 25,400 dinars (~217 EUR) in state fees, adjusted on 1 July 2026.
• Registered address: about 4,100 to 5,900 dinars (~35 to 50 EUR) a month plus VAT if you use a virtual office.
• Founder-director of an LLC on the minimum wage: about 35,800 dinars (~306 EUR) a month in tax and contributions.
• Sole proprietor on the flat tax: roughly 30,000 to 45,000 dinars (~255 to 385 EUR) a month, all tax and contributions included.
• Realistic first year, residence included: about 760,000 to 1,160,000 dinars (~6,500 to 9,900 EUR) for an LLC founder, about 550,000 to 995,000 dinars (~4,700 to 8,500 EUR) for a sole proprietor.

Company registration fees in Serbia: what the state charges

The state fee is the smallest part of the budget, and it is also the number most websites get wrong. When you register a company in Serbia, the Business Registers Agency, called APR in Serbian, charges a fixed fee for the registration itself. Under the Business Registers Agency's fee decision, published in the Official Gazette and in force since 1 January 2026, that fee is 8,000 dinars (~68 EUR) for a limited liability company, a branch, or a representative office. Registering a sole proprietor costs 2,500 dinars (~21 EUR). Most guides still show the old figures of 5,900 to 6,780 dinars (~50 to 58 EUR), which stopped applying at the end of 2025.

Two smaller fees can come with it. Reserving the company name before you file costs 2,000 dinars (~17 EUR) for a company and 1,400 dinars (~12 EUR) for a sole proprietor, and it is optional. An official extract from the register, which banks and the immigration authority sometimes ask for, costs 2,500 dinars (~21 EUR).

Share capital is not a real cost. The Companies Act sets the minimum contribution for a limited liability company at 100 dinars (under 1 EUR). You can put in more, and a higher figure looks better on a residence file, but nothing in the law requires it.

LLC vs sole proprietor: which costs less to open and run

Foreign founders in Serbia choose between two forms. The limited liability company, called d.o.o. in Serbian, is a separate legal person with limited liability. The sole proprietor, called preduzetnik in Serbian, is you personally, trading under a registered name, with unlimited liability but a much simpler tax life. The registration fee differs, but the running costs differ far more, so the choice decides most of the budget.

The Law on the Registration Procedure gives the registrar five working days to decide once a complete application is in. In practice the whole setup, including bank account, takes two to three weeks because the bank has its own checks on foreign owners.

Notary, translation and apostille costs

If you sign in Belgrade, the notary bill is small. Notary fees are fixed by the Notary Tariff, where one point is 180 dinars (~1.5 EUR) before VAT. Certifying a founder's signature on the founding act costs three points per signature and copy, about 650 dinars (~5.5 EUR) with VAT. Certifying the director's signature on the specimen signature form, which is done as a company representative, costs ten points, about 2,160 dinars (~18 EUR) with VAT. A single founder who is also the director usually pays under 5,000 dinars (~43 EUR) in total.

If you register from abroad, three extra items appear. A power of attorney has to be signed in front of a notary in your country. It then needs an apostille, which is the international stamp that makes a foreign public document valid in Serbia, or full legalisation if your country is not in the Apostille Convention. Apostille fees vary by country, from a few euros to over 100. Finally, every foreign document is translated by a court-certified translator in Serbia. The Rulebook on Permanent Court Interpreters raised the official rate to 1,500 dinars (~13 EUR) per page from May 2026, and agencies price around that level. Budget 9,400 to 23,400 dinars (~80 to 200 EUR) for the whole remote package: power of attorney, apostille, and translation of the power of attorney and your passport.

Registered address, e-signature and bank account

Every company needs a registered seat in Serbia. A virtual office in Belgrade currently costs about 4,100 to 5,900 dinars (~35 to 50 EUR) a month plus VAT, and it is the cheapest legal way to satisfy the requirement. A rented office is only worth it once you have staff.

A qualified electronic signature is needed to file the registration electronically and, later, to sign the annual financial statements. A certificate on a card or USB token from a Serbian certification body costs about 5,900 dinars (~50 EUR). Opening a business bank account is usually free, but expect 1,000 to 2,000 dinars (~9 to 17 EUR) a month in account maintenance, and expect the bank to ask for the same apostilled and translated documents the registry did.

Monthly cost of running a company in Serbia

This is where the two routes separate. A limited liability company needs an accountant, and small companies pay about 9,400 to 23,400 dinars (~80 to 200 EUR) a month depending on the number of invoices and whether the company is in the VAT system.

The founder-director's own pay is the cost that surprises people. For a single permit based on work in your own company, the director needs a contract with the company, and tax and contributions are due on that pay. On the 2026 minimum wage of 371 dinars (~3 EUR) net per hour, a month of 176 hours works out at about 65,300 dinars (~558 EUR) net for you, 87,800 dinars (~750 EUR) gross, and about 101,100 dinars (~864 EUR) in total cost to the company. So about 35,800 dinars (~306 EUR) goes to the state every month, and the rest is your own salary. The Law on Contributions for Mandatory Social Insurance also sets a floor: contributions are calculated on at least 51,297 dinars (~438 EUR) a month in 2026, whatever the contract says.

A sole proprietor on the flat tax, called paušal in Serbian, pays one monthly amount that covers income tax and all contributions, including state health insurance. The Tax Administration sets it by activity code and municipality. For consulting and IT work in Belgrade it currently lands roughly between 30,000 and 45,000 dinars (~255 to 385 EUR) a month. The regime is available while annual turnover stays under 6,000,000 dinars (~51,000 EUR). Above that you move to full accounting.

Residence permit cost Serbia: the single permit and family members

Registering the company gives you a business. It does not give you the right to live in Serbia. For that you apply for the single permit, called jedinstvena dozvola in Serbian, which combines temporary residence and the right to work in one biometric card. It has been the standard route for founders and self-employed foreigners since the amended Law on Foreigners and Law on Employment of Foreigners started applying on 1 February 2024.

The state fees come from the Law on Republic Administrative Fees, tariff number 37, in the amounts adjusted on 1 July 2026: 22,770 dinars (~195 EUR) for issuing the single permit, 2,190 dinars (~19 EUR) for producing the card, and 430 dinars (~4 EUR) for the request. That is 25,390 dinars (~217 EUR) per permit. The authority has 15 days to decide once the file is complete. The permit can be issued for up to three years and renewed for the same period, and each renewal costs the same fees again.

A spouse or child applies separately for temporary residence on the basis of family reunification. The fee for temporary residence is 23,450 dinars (~200 EUR), plus the same 2,190 dinar (~19 EUR) card fee and 430 dinar (~4 EUR) request fee, so about 26,070 dinars (~223 EUR) per family member. Add photos, translations of marriage and birth certificates at 1,500 dinars (~13 EUR) a page, and health insurance for family members who are not covered through your company or your flat tax. If your nationality needs a visa to enter, you will also pay the consular fee for a long stay visa D before any of this starts. Three years on the single permit opens the door to permanent residence after three years, and the whole chain is explained in how the residence ladder works.

The full first-year budget

Here is every line added up for one founder who registers from abroad, moves to Belgrade, and gets the single permit in the first year. Euro figures use a rate of about 117 dinars to the euro. Professional fees are shown as the published market range, and the totals include them.

Two notes on reading the table. The LLC figure for tax on pay assumes the minimum wage; the company's own profit is taxed separately at 15%, and again at 15% if you pay it out as dividends. The sole proprietor's flat tax covers all of your income up to the turnover cap, so the two rows are not measuring the same thing. From the second year on, drop the one-time lines: the LLC runs at about 608,000 to 819,000 dinars (~5,200 to 7,000 EUR) a year, the sole proprietor at about 433,000 to 714,000 dinars (~3,700 to 6,100 EUR), before permit renewals.

Professional fees and what they buy

Published rates in Belgrade run from about 23,400 to 93,600 dinars (~200 to 800 EUR) for a company registration handled end to end, and from about 70,000 to 175,500 dinars (~600 to 1,500 EUR) for a single permit file. What that money buys is not the filing itself but the sequence: the founding act drafted so the bank and the immigration authority both accept it, the power of attorney worded so the notary abroad and the registry here read it the same way, the translations ordered once instead of twice, and the permit application prepared so it is decided in the 15 days rather than returned for more documents. A rejected file costs the state fee again and a month of your time.

How Start in Serbia handles company registration and residence

Start in Serbia is a law consultancy in Belgrade. We register companies and sole proprietors for foreign founders and then run the single permit application on the same file, so the business and the residence are set up as one project rather than two.

The costs above are not hard to pay. They are hard to sequence. We draft the founding documents and the power of attorney, arrange the notary, apostille and court translations, provide the registered address, file the registration and answer the registry's queries, open the bank account with you, prepare and file the single permit, and handle the renewal when it comes round. You get one budget at the start and one point of contact until the residence card is in your hand.

If you want that budget for your own situation, tell us which route you are considering and we will price it line by line.

Frequently asked questions

Why do other websites say the registration fee is 5,900 or 6,500 dinars (~50 to 56 EUR)?
Those were the fees before 2026. The Business Registers Agency adopted a new fee decision in autumn 2025, and it has applied since 1 January 2026: 8,000 dinars (~68 EUR) for a company and 2,500 dinars (~21 EUR) for a sole proprietor. Any page still showing the older figures has not been updated.

Do I have to pay myself a salary as director of my own company?
If your residence is based on work in your own company, the single permit rests on your contract with that company, and tax and contributions are due on the pay under it. On the minimum wage that is about 35,800 dinars (~306 EUR) a month to the state. There are structures for a director who is not in an employment relationship, and the contribution floor still applies, so this is the line to have checked before you choose the LLC route.

How long does the whole process take?
The registry decides within five working days of a complete application, and the bank account usually takes another one to two weeks. The single permit is decided within 15 days of a complete file. Registering from abroad adds the time it takes to get the power of attorney apostilled and couriered, typically one to two weeks.

Do the permit fees change every year?
Yes. The Law on Republic Administrative Fees adjusts the dinar amounts once a year for inflation, and the latest adjustment applied from 1 July 2026. The 22,770 dinar (~195 EUR) issuance fee and 2,190 dinar (~19 EUR) card fee in this article are the amounts in force now. Expect a small increase each summer.

What does renewing the permit cost?
The same state fees as the first application, 25,390 dinars (~217 EUR), plus fresh translations of any document that has expired. The permit can be granted for up to three years at a time, so a three-year first permit means you pay once before you become eligible for permanent residence.