Payment of Public Revenues and Income: What You Need to Know About the New Structure of the Reference Number

As of January 1, 2025, payments to accounts designated for public revenue and income are no longer possible using a general reference number – based on Model 97 with a control number and territorial code. In other words, the municipality codebook (which consists of a control number and a territorial code for individual municipalities) is no longer applicable for payments of public revenue and income. Instead, a new structure for the reference number is implemented.

This change has been introduced by the latest amendments to the Rulebook on the Conditions and Manner of Managing Accounts for Public Revenue Payments and the Allocation of Funds from These Accounts (“Rulebook”).

Public Revenues and Income

Law on Budget System defines public revenues as all revenues generated through mandatory payments by taxpayers, legal entities and natural entities who use a specific public good or public service, as well as all other revenues collected by beneficiaries of budget funds and organizations for mandatory social insurance. So, public revenue includes: 

-        taxes, contributions for mandatory social insurance, and non-tax revenues, such as fees, charges, fines, revenues generated from the use of public funds, donations, transfers and financial assistance from the European Union.

 Moreover, the same law also defines income as funds generated by the state through the sale of non-financial and financial assets, as well as through borrowing. Hence, income includes:

-        income from the sale financial assets (such as the sale of shares in companies in which the state holds a stake) and non-financial assets (such as the sale of real estate, commodity reserves, etc.), as well as income from borrowing (e.g., loans from international financial institutions).

Formation of the Reference Number

The competent authority responsible for the collection of public revenue or income should provide payment instructions to payers with the new reference number.

If this is not the case, you can form the reference number in accordance with the following steps: 

1. You need to access the Tax Administration portal via the following link, where you can find a calculator that generates the control number based on Model 97.
2. Next, in the “number” filed you need to enter three-digit number of the municipality, city autonomous province, or the Republic of Serbia, which can be found in column 3 of Annex 3 of the Rulebook.
3. Then, in the same filed, you need to enter JB KJS – the unique number of the public funds’ user. The information about the JB KJS, for which service or at whose request the public revenue or income is being paid, can be found on the Treasury Administration portal, Ministry of Finance - https://kjs.trezor.gov.rs/.
4. Finally, based on the entered data, and by clicking the MOD 97 button, a two-digit control number is generated.

The reference number will have the following structure:

 (two-digit control number) + (three-digit control number of the municipality, city, autonomous province, or Republic of Serbia) + (JB KJS).

Additionally, we note that the procedure described above does not apply if the competent authority issues a unique reference number, which is specifically linked to each individual payment for easier record-keeping.

Minja Mucić

Junior Associate

minja.mucic@prlegal.rs; legal@prlegal.rs;