Estonian Company Run from Serbia: Tax Rules

Many Serbian entrepreneurs — and many people who moved to Serbia — form or buy an Estonian private limited company (OÜ), often as e-residents, and run it from Serbia. That works, but Serbian corporate profit tax does not look only at where a company was founded: a legal person whose place of actual management and control is in Serbia is a Serbian resident taxpayer and is taxed there on its profit made in Serbia and abroad. Serbia has adopted a rule on controlled foreign companies, but it applies only from the day Serbia joins the European Union. And the Estonia–Serbia tax treaty leaves a company resident in both countries to an agreement between the two tax authorities. This guide sets out these rules with the official texts, and what we do on the Estonian side.

The guide is general information, not tax advice. How your company and you are taxed depends on the facts of your case; ask a Serbian tax adviser (poreski savetnik) before you form or buy the company. We read the Corporate Profit Tax Act (Zakon o porezu na dobit pravnih lica) in the consolidated text published by the Serbian Tax Administration, with the amendments up to Official Gazette no. 80/26, the amending act of 2026 in the text published by the National Assembly, and the Estonia–Serbia tax treaty in Riigi Teataja, on 23 October 2026; the English wording of the Serbian act below is our translation.

In Estonia: an Estonian company is Estonian

A company established under Estonian law is resident in Estonia for tax purposes (Income Tax Act § 6). Its profit is taxed when it is distributed, not while it stays in the company — the guide how Estonia taxes company profit explains the rule. The company keeps its Estonian duties wherever its owners live: accounts, an annual report to the commercial register and, if its address is abroad, a contact person in Estonia.

In Serbia: the company side

Founded or managed in Serbia. A resident taxpayer is a legal person that is founded, or has its place of actual management and control, in the territory of the Republic of Serbia; it is taxed on the profit it makes in Serbia and outside it (Corporate Profit Tax Act, Article 2).
Non-residents. A non-resident taxpayer is a legal person that is founded and has its place of actual management and control outside Serbia; it is taxed on the profit it makes through a permanent business unit in Serbia, unless a tax treaty provides otherwise (Article 3).
Permanent business unit. A permanent business unit is any fixed place of business through which the non-resident carries on its activity, in particular a branch, a plant, a representative office or a place of production (Article 4).
Rate. The corporate profit tax rate is 15% (Article 39).

An Estonian OÜ is founded in Estonia. If you live in Serbia and the company is in fact managed and controlled from there, Serbia can treat it as a Serbian resident taxpayer. Your Serbian tax adviser answers that with the facts of your case.

In Serbia: the owner side

A rule adopted for later. The amending act of 2026 adds a rule on controlled foreign companies (Article 62b): a foreign entity in which the taxpayer, alone or with related persons, holds more than 50% of the voting rights or the capital or is entitled to more than 50% of the profit, and whose actual profit tax is lower than the difference between the Serbian tax and that tax, brings its undistributed income from interest, licence fees, dividends and similar sources into the taxpayer's tax base; an entity with a real economic activity, or whose income of these kinds is one third or less of its income, is excepted.
Not applied yet. Under the amending act, its provisions apply from the day the Republic of Serbia joins the European Union, except some provisions that apply from 1 January 2027 or 1 January 2028; the article that adds the controlled foreign company rule is not one of those exceptions (amending act of 2026, Articles 18 and 23).

So today there is no Serbian controlled foreign company rule that applies to an owner of an Estonian company. How an owner living in Serbia is taxed on what the Estonian company pays out is a question for your Serbian tax adviser.

What the Estonia–Serbia tax treaty says

Resident in both countries. If a person other than an individual is resident in both states, the competent authorities decide by agreement how the treaty applies to it, having regard to the place of its highest management body or any other relevant factor (agreement signed in New York on 24 September 2009, article 4(3); RT II 2009, 31, 93). The treaty does not decide it by itself.
Permanent establishment. A permanent establishment is a fixed place of business through which the business of an enterprise is wholly or partly carried on; it includes especially a place of management, a branch and an office (article 5(1) and (2)). The profit attributable to it may be taxed in the state where it is (article 7(1)).
Directors' fees. Fees a Serbian resident receives as a member of the management board or a similar body of an Estonian company may be taxed in Estonia (article 16) — see board member fee or dividend from abroad.
Dividends. Dividends paid by an Estonian company to a Serbian resident may be taxed in Serbia; if Estonia also taxes them at source, the treaty limits that tax to 5 percent of the gross amount for a company (other than a partnership) holding directly at least 25 percent of the capital, and 10 percent in all other cases (article 10(1) and (2)).

So the treaty does not settle a double residence by itself: a company actually managed and controlled from Serbia may need an agreement between the two tax administrations. The multilateral convention on tax treaty measures (MLI) can change the rules of tax treaties; how it applies to your company is a question for your Serbian tax adviser — we do not give that ruling.

What to decide before you form or buy the company

Where the company is actually managed and controlled. That is the fact the Serbian residence rule and the treaty look at.
Where the work is done. An office or other fixed place of business in Serbia can be a permanent business unit.
How profits reach you. Dividends and board fees are covered by articles 10 and 16 of the treaty.

What we do on the Estonian side

online formation for an e-resident — €950 Registered address and contact person service for one year are included., or formation by power of attorney — €1,250;
a ready-made company bought remotely — €1,200 Registered address and contact person service for one year are included.;
accounting — from €150 / month and the annual report — from €450;
the registered address and contact person after the first 12 months — €350 / year.

Our accounting covers the Estonian company's Estonian obligations. Serbian tax returns and Serbian tax advice are not included. Owners in other countries: Estonian company run from abroad compares the rules side by side.

Prices exclude VAT. All communication takes place by email.

Ready to start? A new Estonian company — online for e-residents or by power of attorney; Serbian tax advice is not included. Order.

Official sources

The laws this article names, by the name of their official text, as read on 9 October 2026. For the Estonian acts we read the English translation in Riigi Teataja; the legally binding text is the Estonian one.

Income Tax Act — Riigi Teataja, English translation

Sources are named in the text, without links. To see which of our services your company needs, open the Business Navigator.

Frequently asked questions

Is my Estonian company taxed in Serbia if I run it from Serbia?

It can be. Serbia counts as resident a legal person that is founded in Serbia or has its place of actual management and control there, and a resident is taxed on its profit made in Serbia and abroad (Corporate Profit Tax Act, Article 2). In Estonia the company stays resident because it was established under Estonian law (Income Tax Act § 6). Under the Estonia–Serbia tax treaty the competent authorities decide such a double residence by agreement, having regard to the place of its highest management body (article 4(3)). Serbia's controlled foreign company rule is adopted but applies only from Serbia's accession to the EU. Ask a Serbian tax adviser before you form or buy the company; we handle the Estonian side.

Estonian company run from Serbia: what is taxed where