Tax Representative for Non-Residents

Under Art. 26 para. 2 of the Tax Administration Law, a foreign legal or natural person that has no permanent establishment or prebivalište in Montenegro but earns income or owns property in Montenegro must, within ten days from starting to earn the income or acquiring the property, appoint a tax representative and notify the tax authority. Exception (para. 3): if the foreign person earns only income taxed by withholding for which no tax return is required (e.g. rent paid by a company or entrepreneur — Art. 49a PIT Law; dividends — Art. 50 PIT Law), no representative is required. Typical cases: a flat owner letting to individuals or via platforms, a seller of property or company shares, a land owner.

A foreign natural person who carries on an activity, earns income or owns property in Montenegro must file a registration application (Art. 27 para. 2 item 5) within five working days from earning taxable income or acquiring taxable property (Art. 32 para. 3). The tax authority issues a registration decision assigning a PIB within eight days (Art. 27 para. 3); whoever does not file is registered ex officio (para. 4). The PIB is the single number for all taxes and goes on every payment order (Art. 27 paras. 7–8). In IRMS the application is filed via Upis u registar → Fizička lica → “ostala fizička lica”; a foreign person is identified by JMB, NIB or an identity document (type, number, issuing country). For local public revenues (property tax) the municipality assigns a local AOP number (Art. 27 para. 6).

A tax representative is a person the taxpayer authorises in writing to handle, in the taxpayer's name and on their account, matters related to fulfilling tax obligations under tax regulations (Art. 4 item 8). The law does not restrict who may act — in practice an accountant, lawyer or trusted resident. The power of attorney is written; for use in IRMS a non-resident grantor's power of attorney must be certified per law (notary, court, local-government body) and digitised at a notary. The ten-day deadline runs from the day income starts or property is acquired.

For responsible persons not recorded in the Central Population Register (non-residents without residence in Montenegro) a special procedure applies: the request to record an authorised person is filed by the authorised person — a resident — from their own portfolio, with a digitally signed authorisation attached and, where needed, a certified translation. When the grantor is a non-resident, they issue a paper power of attorney, certified per law, to a resident recorded in the Central Population Register; the authorised resident has it digitised at a notary and uploads it with the request (option “Zahtijevam da budem dodat/uklonjen kao ovlašćeno lice kod drugog lica (obveznika)”, entering the taxpayer's PIB). These requests are processed by Tax Administration officers (not automatically). The authorisation may be permanent or time-limited and covers: filing and viewing tax returns, filing requests, viewing the account card, access to eSanduče.

A non-resident files the annual return (GPP-FL) for Montenegrin-source income not subject to withholding (Art. 43 para. 6 PIT Law), by the end of April for the previous year (Art. 43 para. 2). Rent: if the tenant is a legal entity or entrepreneur it withholds 15 % on payment (Art. 49a para. 1) and you file nothing for that income; if you let to an individual or via a platform with no withholding payer, you pay the tax with the GPP-FL (Art. 49a para. 2, Art. 43 para. 4 item 2). Capital gain from selling real estate, a company share or securities: 15 % on the difference between sale and purchase price, yearly with the GPP-FL (Art. 37a, 50a); exempt if the property was your sole and main residence, for transfers between spouses or life partners linked to marriage/life partnership/divorce/inheritance and gifts to first-degree relatives (Art. 37g). A double-tax treaty prevails (Art. 45): in its Q3-2025 answers the Tax Administration confirmed that an Albanian resident's gain on selling a share is taxed only in Albania, while a US resident (no treaty) is taxed in Montenegro.

Domestic and foreign persons are equal for real-estate transfer tax (Art. 3 of the Transfer Tax Law): the acquirer files the return (form PR-OPPN) with the competent municipal tax office within 15 days of the obligation arising and pays the tax together with the return (Art. 16). For the annual property tax the owner files a return with the municipal office within 30 days of acquisition (Art. 16 of the Property Tax Law); the tax is assessed by decision by 30 April and paid in two instalments — 30 June and 31 October (Art. 15).