A guide for people starting a business in Serbia
Do you need a fiscal cash register, and is V-PFR enough?
These are two separate questions, and they often get mixed up. First: does your turnover have to be recorded through an electronic fiscal device at all? Second: if it does, is the Tax Administration's cloud processor (V-PFR) enough, or do you also need a local processor (L-PFR) in your premises?
This is not tax advice. The guide explains what the regulations say and helps you ask the right question. The final assessment for your business comes from your accountant and, if needed, the Tax Administration, especially when one company does several activities, because an exemption applies to the turnover, not to the company as a whole.
Words you will hear
Your accountant and the Tax Administration will use these Serbian terms. Here is what each one means.
- Poreska uprava
- The Tax Administration of the Republic of Serbia. It approves fiscal software and runs V-PFR, the virtual processor of fiscal receipts.
- Fiscal receipt (fiskalni račun)
- A receipt signed by a fiscal processor, with a QR code the customer can use to verify it with the Tax Administration.
- Promet na malo
- Retail turnover: goods and services sold to private individuals, and any sale in a retail outlet, even when the buyer is a company.
- ESIR
- Electronic system for issuing receipts: the software through which fiscal receipts are issued. The Tax Administration must approve it. Tezga is an approved ESIR, IB 1597.
- V-PFR
- The Tax Administration's virtual processor of fiscal receipts. It works over the internet, so issuing a receipt needs a constant connection.
- L-PFR
- A local processor of fiscal receipts, on your side. It issues receipts without internet and needs a device from an approved supplier and a smart card for those premises.
- Bezbednosni element
- Security element: the digital certificate with a PIN that the Tax Administration issues to you. You enter it into the software; it stays with you.
- SEF
- Sistem elektronskih faktura, the state system for e-invoices to Serbian companies and to the public sector.
- PIB
- The tax identification number of a company or a sole trader.
- Paušalac
- A flat-rate sole trader. Flat-rate taxation is about how the tax is determined, not about whether you must fiscalize.
- KPO knjiga
- The turnover ledger a flat-rate sole trader keeps. Tezga fills it in from issued invoices.
Who must issue fiscal receipts
Every business that makes retail sales (promet na malo): goods or services sold to private individuals, and any sale in a retail outlet, even when the buyer is a company. It does not matter whether the customer pays in cash, by card or by bank transfer. The obligation covers companies and sole traders, including flat-rate sole traders (paušalci).
Not issuing a fiscal receipt is a misdemeanour under the Law on Fiscalization. It carries a fine and, when repeated, a ban on carrying out the activity.
Who you sell to decides what you issue
Invoicing only companies, without a retail outlet, is not retail. This matters for IT freelancers and consultants who invoice clients abroad.
Foreign company
Fiscal receipt: Not needed. Selling to a company is not retail.
SEF e-invoice: No. Foreign companies are not registered on SEF, so you send the invoice outside the system, as before.
In Tezga: You create the invoice from the same catalogue and send it to the client as a PDF.
Serbian company or the state
Fiscal receipt: Not needed. Here too you sell to a company, not to a private individual.
SEF e-invoice: Yes. An invoice to a Serbian company or to the state is issued as an e-invoice through SEF.
In Tezga: Turn on SEF in the company settings and enter your SEF API key. The invoice goes from Tezga to SEF and its status shows in the app.
Private individual
Fiscal receipt: Needed, unless your activity is exempt. You issue a fiscal receipt for that sale.
SEF e-invoice: No. Private individuals are not on SEF.
In Tezga: You issue the fiscal receipt from a phone or a computer, through the Tax Administration's V-PFR.
Activities without the obligation
A government regulation (Uredba) lists the activities for which retail turnover does not have to be recorded through an electronic fiscal device. The latest amendment we have read is 110/2025, checked on 9 September 2026. Activity names below are our translation; the Serbian version of this guide quotes the regulation.
Exempt in full
- 49.31Urban and suburban passenger land transportRegulation, Art. 3, item 1
- 49.32Taxi transportRegulation, Art. 3, item 2
- 51.10Passenger air transportRegulation, Art. 3, item 3
- 53.10Public service postal activitiesRegulation, Art. 3, item 5
- 61TelecommunicationsRegulation, Art. 3, item 6
- 64Financial services, except insurance and pension fundsRegulation, Art. 3, item 7
- 66Activities auxiliary to financial services and insuranceRegulation, Art. 3, item 9
- 84.30Compulsory social securityRegulation, Art. 3, item 12
- 87Social care with accommodationRegulation, Art. 3, item 15
- 88Social care without accommodationRegulation, Art. 3, item 16
- 94.91Activities of religious organisationsRegulation, Art. 3, item 18
Exempt only in part: here a simple yes or no does not exist
For these codes the regulation exempts only part of the activity. A table that said only "yes" or "no" would mislead you, so this is exactly what is exempt.
52.21 Service activities incidental to land transport
Only the part covering tolls and maintenance of roads, bridges and tunnels, and car parks or garages paid through third parties or telecom operators, is exempt.
Regulation, Art. 3, item 4
65 Insurance, reinsurance and pension funds
Exempt, except for compulsory social insurance.
Regulation, Art. 3, item 8
69.10 Legal activities
Exempt, except for notaries and enforcement officers, who must fiscalize.
Regulation, Art. 3, item 10
75.00 Veterinary activities
Only primary field animal health care, work under the Programme of Measures, disinfection and pest control in animal facilities, and control of infectious diseases are exempt. A veterinary clinic is not.
Regulation, Art. 3, item 11
85 Education
Exempt, except group 85.5 (Other education): sports schools, language schools, driving schools and similar are NOT exempt.
Regulation, Art. 3, item 13
86 Human health activities
Only services paid from compulsory health insurance are exempt. A private practice that charges the patient must fiscalize.
Regulation, Art. 3, item 14
92 Gambling and betting
Only games organised by the State Lottery of Serbia, and games whose organiser submits data electronically to the competent authority, are exempt.
Regulation, Art. 3, item 17
47.99 Other retail sale outside shops, stalls and markets
Only itinerant sellers are exempt: street sale of ice cream, lottery tickets, popcorn and newspapers.
Regulation, Art. 4
96.09 Other personal service activities
Only shoe shiners and porters are exempt.
Regulation, Art. 4
The list is not only about codes. The regulation also exempts turnover that no activity code reveals: a natural person selling their own agricultural products at a market, charging through metering instruments (electricity, water, gas, heating, telephone), marketing services to companies in a retail outlet, utility activities under a special law, and old and artistic crafts under a special rulebook. If you fall into one of these, your activity code will not give you the answer.
A deadline to watch: sales at market stalls and similar facilities are exempt until 31 December 2026 (Regulation, Article 4a). From 1 January 2027 these sellers enter fiscalization.
V-PFR or L-PFR
The difference is where the receipt is fiscalized. V-PFR (virtual processor) runs on the Tax Administration's side and needs a constant internet connection. L-PFR (local processor) runs on your side and issues receipts even without internet. The Law on Fiscalization (Article 6) gives you the right to choose.
Why V-PFR is often not enough on its own. Article 6, paragraph 4: a business that chooses the processor in the Tax Administration's system (V-PFR), except one that sells at retail exclusively over the internet, must also have at least one device with its own fiscal receipt processor, an L-PFR, in each business premises. In practice, a shop, salon, gym or café using V-PFR must also have an L-PFR on site. That is why the obligation depends on where you sell, not on your activity code.
Four possible outcomes
No obligation
No fiscal receipt is issued for that turnover.
V-PFR is enough
Retail sales exclusively over the internet, without business premises.
V-PFR plus a mandatory L-PFR
Sales in business premises: at least one L-PFR in each premises.
Needs checking
The exemption covers only part of the activity, so the answer depends on the work.
Where Tezga fits
Tezga works through V-PFR by default. It also works with an L-PFR from any supplier approved by the Tax Administration, together with the smart card for those premises; you set it up in the app under Podešavanja (Settings), Fiskalizacija. Tezga does not sell its own L-PFR. When the Tax Administration's V-PFR is down, Tezga retries fiscalization on its own every ten minutes, up to twelve times within 48 hours, without ever creating a duplicate receipt.
A short interactive check is available on the Serbian version of this guide.
E-invoices and SEF
SEF (Sistem elektronskih faktura) is the state system for electronic invoices. An invoice to a Serbian company or to the public sector is issued as an e-invoice through SEF. Foreign companies are not registered on SEF, and private individuals are not on it either: they get a fiscal receipt.
In Tezga, the Biznis plan sends outgoing and receives incoming e-invoices through SEF, with accepting and rejecting directly in the app. You connect it with your own SEF API key, entered in the settings.
Flat-rate sole traders (paušalci)
Flat-rate taxation is about how your tax is determined, not about fiscalization. A paušalac who makes retail sales issues fiscal receipts for them. A paušalac who invoices only companies, for example an IT freelancer with clients abroad, does not need a fiscal cash register for that turnover.
When you choose the taxpayer type "paušalac" in Tezga, it does not add VAT to your invoices and keeps the KPO ledger from the invoices you issue. SEF is a separate switch, off by default for a paušalac, and you turn it on when you start invoicing Serbian companies or the state. Tezga does not calculate your tax or contributions and does not give tax advice: that stays with you and your accountant.
What you need before you start
A security element (bezbednosni element): the digital certificate with a PIN that the Tax Administration issues to you, and registered business premises. The security element stays with you and you enter it into the software yourself. We never ask for your PIN; a request like that is an attempt at fraud.
The Tezga app is in Serbian. Support is by email at podrska@tezgafiskal.com.
Ready to issue your first receipt?
Registration takes about two minutes. Plans and prices are on the English home page.