Online conference: Tax incentives for investments in alternative investment funds in Serbia

On Thursday, 13 May 2021, we organized an online conference - Tax Incentives for Investments in Alternative Investment Funds (AIF) in Serbia. The conference was held in cooperation with the Cooperation for Growth Project. The conference hosted two panels attended by professionals and experts from the country's private and public sectors.

The panels concluded that setting up a regulatory framework for AIF development brought legal certainty to Serbia, and assessed the overall tax treatment as necessary to give rise to AIFs in our economy. However, the prevailing opinion is that foreign funds are required to enter the Serbia’s capital market for more significant development. This is where the further perspective of AIF market can be seen and for this reason we need to support the development of Serbian funds.

Speaking of venture capital (VC) funds, it was concluded that the regulatory framework for their formation is aligned with the European standards and directives. It is expected to remove the barriers in the coming period and thus enable legal entities to invest in VC funds as regulated by the National Bank of Serbia (pension funds, insurance and banks). Tax incentives will be provided for them in the same way as provided for individuals.

The strategy to boost startup ecosystem will include a range of measures to support formation of VC funds, with the state fund as the most important one. It is encouraging that the first VC funds are expected to be formed this or next year.