North Macedonia

General Information     |     Tax measures – Direct and Indirect     |     Employment-related measures     |     Economic stimulus measures     |     Other measures and sources

Return to homepage  |  Last updated: 8 July, 2020

The government implemented in March a fiscal package (0.2 percent of GDP) to help address firms’ liquidity problems and protect jobs, targeted to affected sectors such as transport, hotel and restaurants for three months starting in April.

Click here to see a comprehensive summary of jurisdictional tax measures and government reliefs in response to COVID-19.

Financial support and subsiding for social security contributions - this measure is extended to apply for June

• Financial support for the payment of salaries of up to MKD 14,500 per employee, to employers in the private sector affected by the COVID-19 crisis, for the months of April and May 2020 as well as to individuals conducting independent business activities. This measure is extended to apply for the payment of June 2020 salary as well.
• An alternative measure is available for subsiding employers affected by the COVID-19 crisis, for payment of the mandatory social security contributions for April, May and June up to 50% of the contributions calculated on the average gross salary for January 2020. This and the previous measure are excluding each other except for some employers under certain conditions provided by special Decrees.
• The measures generally refer to employers who realized reduced revenues due to the crisis, and are subject to several conditions, such as limitations in respect to paying dividends to owners as well as awards for employer’s business success to employees and members of management, as well as a requirement for preserving a certain number of employees (except in cases of death, retirement or in the case of termination of the employment by the employee) for certain period of time.
• After year-end, depending on the results realized by the employer, there might be an obligation for reimbursement of the funds received under the respective measures. Under certain conditions provided in a special Decree, some employers may request conversion of the financial support into grant.

Other financial support

• The Government provided payment cards to certain categories of individuals for the purpose of granting financial support in the amount of EUR 50 up to EUR 150 which can be used to purchase domestic products.

Extension of installment payments and other benefits in а state of emergency to facilitate loan servicing during COVID-19 - this measure still applies for clients who have accepted changing of the loan repayment schedule

• A Decree on the manner in which contractual conditions can be changed by banks and saving houses in respect offering more beneficial terms to affected clients for servicing their debt was adopted. 
• Banks and savings houses could offer more favorable loan agreement terms without having received a request from the clients concerned, by publishing an offer for changing the loan repayment terms on their websites or sending electronic notices to clients.
• Banks and savings houses could offer the following additional benefits to the concerned citizens and businesses: extension i.e. grace period for loan repayment; prolonging the loan repayment for an extended period; lower interest rate, etc.

Financial support for strengthening the competitiveness of the business entities during and in post COVID-19 period

• Financial support of 25% of the realized investment, and depending of the total income realized in 2019, is provided to certain type of companies working in the industry sector for strengthening their competitiveness in order to stabilize and renew their business activity by implementing an investment project in the post COVID-19 period.

Decreased rate of the penalty interest

• The penalty interest for public liabilities is reduced by 50%, i.e. from 0,03% to 0,015%.
• The Constitutional Court decided to initiate proceedings regarding the constitutionality of the Decree for application of the Tax Procedure Law in regard to this provision.
• The statutory penalty interest between legal entities is decreased from 10 to 5 %, while the statutory penalty interest where at least one party is a legal entity is decreased to 4 %.

Enforced collection measures

• The tax authorities will not conduct any enforced collection in respect of all taxes and other public charges (fines, court fees), until 30 June 2020, against those taxpayers who have not paid their obligations.
• The Law on Enforcement is suspended until the end of June, and the enforcement agents are obliged to stop taking any enforcement action.

Main sources of information:

• Government adopts Decrees with the force of law in respect to some of the economic measures previously announced
• New Decrees with the force of law in respect to some of the economic measures previously announced
• Government measures

Legal: Juliana Mateeva – jmateeva@kpmg.com
Tax: Alexander Hadjidimov – ahadjidimov@kpmg.com
Restructuring: Zdravko Moskov – zmoskov@kpmg.com
Legal: Siana Garbolino – sgarbolino@kpmg.com