On 03 December 2025, the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia adopted two laws harmonizing with the European climate policy and regulations, fulfilling the obligations from the accession negotiations with the European Union and in accordance with the negotiating chapter 27 - Environment, which was opened in 2021. Both laws will come into force on 01 January 2026, a date that is aligned with the start of the implementation of the CBAM in the European Union.
The Law on Greenhouse Gas Emissions Tax prescribes a tax on the production of artificial fertilizers and nitrogen compounds, cement, iron, steel and ferroalloys, aluminum and electricity. That is, the tax is paid on products that emit greenhouse gases (GHG) - carbon dioxide (CO2), nitrous oxide (N2O) and perfluorocarbons (PFCs) in the process of their production.
The tax base is the amount of GHG, expressed in tons, that is emitted during production during a calendar year, which amount is reduced by the amount of GHG emissions that is a reference for a specific production process. The Minister of Environmental Protection determines the reference quantities for production processes.
The total amount of tax is determined by multiplying each emitted ton of GHG that enters the tax base by 4 euros.
The tax return must be submitted by May 31 of the current year for the previous year in which period there is an obligation to pay taxes.
Bearing in mind that the Republic of Serbia is highly dependent on the production of coal-fired electricity, a tax credit is prescribed for companies engaged in the production of electricity, which have generated at least 80% of revenues from the sale of electricity in the tax period and which invest in decarbonization measures. The amount of the tax credit represents 20% of the financial resources invested in decarbonization, and the maximum amount of the tax credit can be 80% of the amount of the determined tax.
The second law is the Law on Import Tax of Carbon-Intensive Products, which covers the import of artificial fertilizers, cement, iron, steel and aluminum into the Republic of Serbia. The taxpayer is the importer of these products, but there is no obligation to pay tax if less than five tons of high-carbon products are imported in the tax period.
The tax period, the tax base, the amount of the tax and the deadline for filing and paying are, more or less, regulated in the same way as for the tax on the production of high-carbon products.
While the purpose of the CBAM is to accelerate decarbonisation and the green transition, many open questions remain about specific implementation mechanisms, in particular the determination of the amount of GHG emissions from countries that are not in the European Union and are major suppliers of the European market for high-carbon products.
By Jelena Gazivoda, Senior Partner, Nikola Djordjevic, Partner, and Marko Mrdja, Senior Associate, JPM & Partners
