Tourist tax (boravišna taksa) in Republika Srpska: who pays, how much, when

The tourist tax (boravišna taksa) is a fee the guest pays for a night in accommodation. It concerns everyone offering accommodation in Republika Srpska, including rural households and private accommodation in East Herzegovina.

In short

• The guest pays the tax for each night. The host (ugostitelj) collects it together with the room price, shows it separately on the invoice and pays it into the public revenue account of Republika Srpska.
• Amendments (Službeni glasnik RS no. 107/24) abolished the flat annual sum per bed from 1 January 2025. Rural tourism facilities, apartments, holiday homes and rooms for rent now pay per night.
• The legal range is 1.5 to 3 KM per night, and 3 to 4 KM in declared tourist places. The local self-government sets the exact amount.
• Trebinje: a City Assembly decision of February 2025 sets 3.00 KM per night.
• A monthly return goes to the Tax Administration of Republika Srpska by the 15th for the previous month.

Who it applies to

All accommodation providers: hotel, motel, guesthouse, hostel, apartment, holiday home, room for rent, rural tourism facility and other accommodation, including natural persons. The guest is the taxpayer; the host collects the tax and is responsible for paying it in. If the host does not collect it, the host must pay the uncollected amount from their own funds.

Exempt (Article 5): children under 12; persons sent by a medical commission for spa or climate treatment, and persons coming to spa and climate centres for treatment; persons with a disability of at least 70%, war invalids of categories 1 to 5 (with one companion); pupils, students and companions staying as an organised group for field school, excursions, sports activities and competitions; pupils and students not resident where they study. The full list is in Article 5.

Pay 50% of the tax (Article 6): persons aged 12 to 18 and persons staying continuously more than 30 days.

The guest must show proof (ID card, school certificate, medical commission referral).

What to do

1. Enter the guest in the guest book.
2. Collect the tax with the price of the night. List it separately on the invoice, with the basis for any exemption or reduction. Keep the proof until the end of the following calendar year (Article 14).
3. By the 15th of the month, for the previous month, file a return with the Tax Administration of Republika Srpska (Poreska uprava Republike Srpske) on the number of guests and tax collected, on a special form (Article 15, paragraph 1). Check the form and filing method with the Tax Administration.
4. Pay the collected amount into the public revenue account of Republika Srpska within five days after the end of the month in which the return was filed (Article 16, paragraph 1). The 2025 Trebinje decision (point VIII) states payment within five days after the end of the month; if unsure of the exact date, check with the Tax Administration.
5. If you collect the tax together with payment of an invoice under a contract with a travel agency, pay it three days after the invoice is paid, and at the latest 60 days after the guest's last day of stay (Article 16, paragraph 2).
6. If you are a natural person, also send the tourist organization or the travel agency you have a contract with a report on nights and tax collected for the previous month, by the 15th (Article 15, paragraph 4).

Fines: paying late or not paying is an offence. For entrepreneurs and natural persons the fine is 2,000 to 8,000 KM (companies 4,000 to 20,000 KM, Article 21). Not filing the return with the Tax Administration, or the report to the tourist organization, is fined 200 to 1,000 KM for entrepreneurs and natural persons (Article 24, paragraphs 3 and 4). Fines also apply for charging domestic and foreign guests different amounts, for not paying uncollected tax, and for an invoice without the tax shown separately.

Deadlines and amounts

• Return to the Tax Administration: by the 15th for the previous month.
• Payment: within five days after the end of the month in which the return was filed (Article 16).
• Trebinje: the Decision on the tourist tax amount (Odluka o određivanju visine boravišne takse, no. 09-013-73/25 of 14 February 2025, Službeni glasnik Grada Trebinja no. 2/25 of 17 February 2025) sets 3.00 KM per night and splits the money 80% to the Tourist Organization of the City of Trebinje and 20% to the Tourist Organization of Republika Srpska. It repealed the earlier decisions (Službeni glasnik Opštine Trebinje nos. 3/06 and 6/10, Službeni glasnik Grada Trebinja no. 2/19) and the decision on the flat sum per bed. We could not confirm whether Trebinje is formally declared a tourist place (3 to 4 KM).
• For Bileća, Gacko, Ljubinje, Nevesinje and Berkovići we could not confirm the amount. Ask the municipality or its tourist organization; it must be within the legal range.
• Distribution as a rule: 80% to the city or municipal tourist organization, 20% to the Tourist Organization of Republika Srpska (Article 11, paragraph 1). If an inter-municipal tourist organization exists, the shares differ.

Where to go

• Tax Administration of Republika Srpska, local office (return and payment)
• City of Trebinje: Troškovi poslovanja (business costs)
• The tourist organization of your municipality

Laws and sources

• Law on Amendments to the Law on Tourist Tax (Službeni glasnik RS no. 107/24)
• Law on Tourist Tax (Službeni glasnik RS nos. 78/11, 106/15 and 107/24), consolidated text on the page of the Ministry of Trade and Tourism of Republika Srpska
• Decision on the tourist tax amount, City of Trebinje (Službeni glasnik Grada Trebinja no. 2/25)