Value-added tax (VAT) rate remains at 17 percent, Bosnia's Finance minister Vjekoslav Bevanda told FENA news agency, adding that there were suggestions for the introduction of the differentiated tax rate.

“As an actor in these proceedings and as someone who has read and discussed the draft VAT Law and whose signature is on the documentation to move the law further into the procedure, I would like to point out that a higher VAT rate was never proposed and it remains at 17 percent. No differentiated rate was also proposed, and the new draft law is in line with European directives and it will greatly facilitate the work of business entities (in Bosnia),” Minister Bevanda explained.

The local media have been writing and reporting on the alleged change to the VAT tax in the country after the newly elected prime minister Zoran Tegeltija allegedly suggested that there are unofficial talks of differentiating the VAT rate from a single rate of 17 percent, to what some expert said could be a double rate of 8 and 21 percent.

Bevanda said that all new legal solutions must go through public discussions and none of the parties involved in the process of bringing the new law can be denied the opportunity to express their opinion, give suggestions or express objections.

“Any change regarding the VAT system in Bosnia is a complex matter and everything the Indirect Taxation Administration (ITA) dies must be based on extensive analysis,” the Minister emphasised, adding that it is a system that cannot be changed overnight.