Implications of the COVID-19 pandemic on tax revenues level in the Republic of Serbia

Abstract

The issue of achieved tax revenues in important for every country, especially today in the conditions of the current COVID-19 pandemic. The negative effects of coronavirus are reflected in increased health and economic risk which is manifested in the deterioration of the macroeconomic framework in the world. The aim of this paper is to point out the importance of tax revenues that they have in the tax structure, especially in crisis situations. The subject of the paper includes the analysis of monthly trend of tax revenues in the Republic of Serbia for the period January-October 2020. The results of the analysis indicate that average tax revenues were 2.21% during the observed period. Although a deficit of 34.484 million dinars was recorded in the first ten months, it is positive that public revenues average increased by 2.47% which is slightly higher than the average growth of public expenditures of 1.68%. Since value added tax and excises are the most important tax forms in the structure of the Republic of Serbia, policymakers should focus on stimulating consumption in order to produce positive implications for generating revenues.