At the Coliving Coworking SEE (South East Europe) Conference, the Prime Minister of Serbia, Ana Brnabić, announced a new tax incentive to attract digital nomads. As part of the newly launched Serbia Creates campaign, the government is supporting programs, funding and new educational standards.
The Fourth Industrial Revolution
In her opening remarks at CCC SEE, the Prime Minister quoted a “fourth industrial revolution”. Referencing larger countries such as the United States that have experienced success in innovation, she identified the opportunity for smaller countries to participate in a new revolution and evolution of work.
By updating educational standards to include coding and programming, Serbia is actively preparing their population for this new industrial revolution. The government is also working to attract startups, research programs and creatives through a variety of initiatives.
Serbian Tax Incentives for Digital Nomads
A new demographic which Serbia is now looking to attract is digital nomads. The Prime Minister announced that starting in 2020 the Serbian government will be rolling out a new tax incentive. This first iteration will offer digital nomads a zero tax rate for income earned while working in Serbia (for a set amount of time – 90 days).
This announcement is quite exciting as part of a larger trend of governments beginning to acknowledge the importance of creating policies and incentive for remote workers and digital nomads.
Hub of Creativity
Serbia is one of many smaller countries experiencing a growth in coworking and coliving. Providing a more affordable cost of living while not sacrificing culture, lifestyle or internet connectivity, Serbia is home to popular coworking spaces such as Smart Office. Coliving has also begun to take off, including Mokrin House, which has been recognized by Forbes as one of the top 5 locations for digital nomads.