Check the car before signing
The notary does not check the car and is not responsible for what the contract says.
So before signing, check for yourself whether the seller is the owner, whether the car is pledged and what condition it is in.
- Compare the name on the registration certificate with the seller's ID card.
- Compare the VIN on the car with the registration certificate, character by character.
- See whether the registration certificate lists a user as well as the owner. It does when the car is leased or rented. Until the lease is paid off, the owner is the company that gave the lease.
- Check in the Pledge Register on the website of the Business Registers Agency (APR) that the car is not pledged for a loan or a debt. Search for the car by VIN, then again by number plates. Whoever buys a pledged car buys it together with the pledge.
Have diagnostics done before the deposit and before the notary, while you have paid nothing yet. More about checking a car before you buy
Ownership transfer step by step
This is the order when you buy a car from a private person.
1. The contract and certification of signatures at a notary
The buyer and the seller sign the sales contract in front of a notary. You can go to any notary, wherever you live. Both bring an ID card, passport or driving licence, because the notary uses it to establish who is signing.
Fill in the whole contract before signing. As a rule, the notary does not certify a signature on a contract that is not filled in.
Whatever the seller tells you about the car, for example that it has not been in an accident or how far it has driven, write it into the contract. The seller is liable for such a statement even when the fault was easy to see.
Where there is no notary, signatures are certified by the basic court or the municipal administration.
2. The tax on the Plati portal
The buyer pays the tax, on the Plati portal (plati.euprava.gov.rs). You do not need an eUprava account for this. On the portal, enter your name, surname, personal ID number and address. From the registration certificate, enter 3 details: the registration number, the register number and the serial number of the certificate.
When you buy from a private person, you do not file a tax return. The portal calculates the tax itself, and you pay it before you submit the request to MUP.
All 3 details are on the front of the registration certificate. The registration number is the number plate, under the letter A. The register number is below the owner and user details. The serial number is in the bottom right corner.
Pay straight away on the portal, by e-banking or by scanning the QR code. You can also print the payment slip and pay at the post office or a bank. A clerk at the post office, the Tax Administration or MUP can also make the payment slip. Someone else can pay the tax for the buyer.
MUP sees a payment on the portal itself at once. A payment made another way, after banking hours, MUP may see only the next day. Then take the payment receipt to MUP.
3. The request for a new registration certificate at MUP
You submit the request for a new registration certificate at the MUP vehicle registration counter. When MUP establishes that the papers are in order, you get a registration confirmation. It is valid instead of the certificate until you collect the new one.
MUP issues the new certificate within 30 days. When you collect it, return the registration confirmation.
Papers for MUP
For the change of owner, take to MUP:
- The registration form, which is the request form for MUP.
- The car's registration certificate.
- The sales contract with certified signatures.
- Proof that the tax has been paid.
- Your ID card.
- The payment slip for the MUP fees, generated on the same Plati portal.
Cost of the ownership transfer: tax, certification and fees
For the ownership transfer you pay 3 things: the transfer tax, the notary for certifying the signatures and the MUP fees for the new certificate. The fee amount is on the payment slip from the Plati portal.
The transfer tax is paid for a car that has already been registered in Serbia. It is not paid for a moped, tractor or two-wheel tractor.
The tax is not calculated from the price in the contract, but from a value calculated by law from the engine size, power and age of the car:
value = (320 × engine size in cm³ + 6,400 × power in kW) × age coefficient
You find the engine size on the registration certificate under the code P.1, and the power in kW under the code P.2.
Age coefficient:
- up to 2 years: 100%
- over 2 years: 90%
- over 3 years: 80%
- over 4 years: 70%
- over 5 years: 60%
- over 6 years: 50%
- over 7 years: 45%
- over 8 years: 40%
- over 9 years: 35%
- over 10 years: 30%
Example: a car with a 1,598 cm³, 77 kW engine, more than 10 years old. The value is (320 × 1,598 + 6,400 × 77) × 30% = 301,248 dinars, and the 2.5% tax is 7,531 dinars.
So the tax is the same for the same car, whatever price you write into the contract. The Plati portal calculates the exact amount for your car.
When you buy from a company
The formula and the Plati portal apply when you buy from a private person who is not registered for VAT. When the car is sold by a company that charges VAT on the sale, no transfer tax is paid. When the seller or the buyer is a company but no VAT is charged, the Tax Administration sets the tax by a decision. The buyer then submits a tax return to the Tax Administration within 30 days of signing the contract. The tax is paid within 15 days of receiving the decision.
The deadline is 15 days
Report the change of owner to MUP within 15 days. If you miss the deadline, the fine is 10,000 to 20,000 dinars.
Gifts and inheritance
When you receive a car as a gift, no transfer tax is paid, because it is paid only when a car is sold. Gift tax applies instead.
Gift tax: depends on the relationship
- The giver's children, grandchildren and spouse: do not pay.
- The giver's parents, brothers and sisters and their children: 1.5%.
- Everyone else, including people who are not related: 2.5%.
The value of the car is calculated by the same formula as for a sale. The first 100,000 dinars of gifts from the same person in one year are not taxed.
Report the gift to the Tax Administration within 30 days, on form PPI-3, together with the certified gift contract. You submit the return at the Tax Administration branch where you live, send it by post or submit it through the ePorezi portal. The Tax Administration sends you a decision: how much you pay, or that you pay no tax if you are exempt. Pay the tax within 15 days of receiving the decision.
The signatures on a gift contract are also certified by a notary. At MUP, the gift contract is taken instead of the sales contract.
When you inherit a car, you take the inheritance decision to MUP. The children, grandchildren, spouse and parents of the deceased do not pay inheritance tax. Other heirs pay the same rates as for a gift.
The keys when you take over the car
Ask the seller for all the keys that come with the car. If they do not have them all, ask them to explain why.
If you do not know who else has a key to the car, we fit an immobiliser that works alongside the factory one. The engine will not start without your fob or code, even if someone has a key to the car. More about the immobiliser
