Prices are rising, so are revenues in state and entity coffers. A record 11 billion and 541 million marks were collected from indirect taxes last year in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which is 901 million more than in 2023.
This year, the authorities, both state and entity, will boast of record budgets. And we ask, why don’t the citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina feel the benefits of the enormous money that the state collects from the pockets of citizens? And where will the 11 billion marks disappear?
Indirect taxes in Bosnia and Herzegovina are paid by consumers – citizens, on every good they buy, from food in stores to clothes and other goods to services. The key indirect tax is VAT and amounts to 17 percent. Special forms of indirect taxes are excise duties and road tolls, and customs duties, Federalna writes.
“After collecting revenues from indirect taxes, the ITA first refunds VAT to taxpayers who have exercised their legal right to a refund, and on that basis, the Administration returned two billion and 91 million BAM to the economy in 2024. The rest of the collected revenues went to distribution to beneficiaries,” the ITA BiH stated.
The beneficiaries of the revenues are the state, the entities of the Federation and Republika Srpska, and the Brčko District. Last year, they received as much as one billion and 15 million BAM more than the previous year. And how will they distribute it?
“For the financing of state institutions in 2024, an amount of 1 billion and 20 million BAM has been allocated. A total of 5 billion and 185 million BAM has been allocated to the Federation of BiH, 2 billion and 905 million BAM to the Republika Srpska and 291 million BAM to the Brčko District,” the ITU-BiH explains.
A special item is the revenue from excise duties and road tolls. The question is how they are spent? The money from these excise duties is primarily intended for improving the road infrastructure, health care, and education systems. Only for the construction of highways and the reconstruction of roads there are tolls – which are charged at 15 pfennigs per liter of product for roads and 25 pfennigs for the construction of highways. An additional million was collected in the accounts last year.
“Based on the special toll for the construction of highways and the construction and reconstruction of other roads (0.25 BAM), the Federation of BiH received an additional 241 million BAM, the Republika Srpska 159 million BAM and the Brčko District 8 million BAM,” the ITU-BiH states.
Destiny additional millions, in addition to loans, EBRD and EU funds for the construction of highways.
And we ask how many meters of highway will we get in 2025? It is certain that we will witness new historic budgets, higher salaries of officials, but also a state without quality healthcare, education and highways. And standard bad fiscal policy.
Why don’t the citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina who fill the budget coffers feel the benefits of the enormous money that the state collects from their pockets?
