The policy on taxing the meal compensation and tax return enacted by the FBiH Government is not the solution that will improve the business environment in Bosnia and Herzegovina, but an additional burden for the already burdened employers.
According to the new Policy of the Government, the meal compensation exceeding 8.5 BAM will be taxed and the employers will have additional costs while paying tax returns exceeding 400 BAM. The previous limits were higher and it was possible to balance between paying taxes to workers' salaries and additional payments, such as meal compensations and tax returns.
Bosnia and Herzegovina currently has laws that burden the employers with paying the greatest percentage of contributions on salaries in the region.
Although Prime Minister Fadil Novali? states that this decision will have a "neutral fiscal effect", we would like to draw the attention to the fact underlined by the employers - that the total income of workers will decrease. We believe that a change was made in a wrong sequence and that the contributions to salaries should have been reduced prior to adopting the amendments of the Policy on implementing the Law on Income Tax. As stated by the employers, such reforms could result in an effet opposite to the desired one and lead to massive terminations of employment.
This sequence of changes represents a direct impact on the workers and it is a worrying fact that the FBiH Government is not considering this.
This measure will primarily affect those who already have small incomes, including youth who are not appreciated in the labor market and are often underpaid.
A reform agenda that aims to create a better business site must not be implemented on employees' harm which is constantly emphasized by the Union and the Employers' Association of FBiH.
A Network for creating a better business environment, "BH Business Site", managed by the Institute for Youth Development KULT, is sending an appeal to the Government of FBiH to prolong the implementation of this Policy and invest its time in resolving key problems of employers, including contributions.
The "BH Business Site" is an initiative that aims to resolve system problems in the employment sector in BiH that aggravate investments in development and opening new workplaces, such as the inadequate distribution of budget incentives for programs and active measures of fighting unemployment, the burdening of the economy with an inadequate concept of tax payment and high contributions to workers' salaries.
The conference entitled "Partnership between Local Actors for Development and Employment" was held on July 12 and 13, 2016 in Mostar.
The aim of the conference was to strengthen the connections between the participants involved in the employment, training and requalification projects. The conference participants discussed education and adult employment, social inclusion and rural and local development.
The discussion also revolved around the role of training, requalification and lifelong learning in emplyoment and entrepreneurial initiatives, particularly those directed towards youth and the socially excluded groups.
The "GoraĹľde Model" was also presented as an example of good practice and work, along with the SEC Banja Luka and Mostar, and the ILO project that will focus on emplyoment in local communities was also presented.
Challenges and manners in which organizations can contribute were defined for each thematic area with recommendations for improvement.
The conference was organized by TASCO BiH in partnership with the TASCO VESTA Resource Center, and a representative of the Institute for Youth Development KULT also participated in the conference.
Conference entitled “Reforms and Employment: State and Perspectives” was held in Sarajevo on June 23, 2016.
The conference was attended by representatives of legal and executive government, resource institutions and facilities, political agents, civil society organizations, employers’ associations and unions, academic community, international and diplomatic representatives and the media, and the aim was to create a summary of the realization and efficiency of the reforms initiated during the previous year, primarily through the Reform Agenda. During the conference, open dialogue was used to contribute to a better understanding of the planned, the expected and the implemented reforms and to focus on effective and measurable outcomes, primarily for the purpose of opening new workplaces.
The Civic Initiative Centers (CCIs) recently published a detailed report entitled “The State of the Nation” that provides a precise overview of the implementation of the Reform Agenda at different levels of government as well as a review of effects on the business climate and competitiveness, the labor market, social and pension policy, public finances, public administration and rule of law and the influence of all the above on the state of the living standard of citizens.
Also, parallel to the monitoring of implementation and effectiveness of the Reform Agenda, the CCIs also prepared a framework analysis of the active employment policies in BiH that premiered during this conference to become an additional incentive to discussion and recommendations towards more effective policies of opening new workplaces which is one of the primary aims of the Reform Agenda.
During the conference, it was emphasized that it is praise-worthy that the reform processes and Reform Agenda were agreed upon and coordinated at all levels of authority in BiH, but that the implementation dynamics was still at a modest level. The participants also made criticized the technical difficulties in the realization of the Provision on Employment Incentives. The necessity of realizing the measure referring to the separation of the obligatory health insurance from the function of employment mediation was also evaluated as urgent.
The conference, organized by the CCIs, was attended by a representative of the Institute for Youth Development KULT.
