Paying a contractor in Serbia takes four things: a signed contract, a tax form in your files, a complete invoice, and an international transfer. Serbian professionals work with US clients as a registered sole trader (preduzetnik), a registered freelancer, through their own company (a DOO), or as an employee of an Employer of Record, and the first three all invoice you directly. The paperwork is the same for each. What trips up a first payment is almost never the law, it’s a missing field on the transfer.
Written by Zorka Djurovic, Founder @ Kaymack Careers
I’ve been paid this way as a preduzetnik and now invoice US clients through my own DOO, so what follows is written from both ends of the transfer. If you haven’t set the engagement up yet, start with how to hire from Serbia legally.
Practical guidance, not legal or tax advice. Confirm your side with your CPA.
Want this as a checklist you can hand to whoever runs payroll? Download the free US Founder’s Guide to Hiring From Serbia. It also covers what the same seniority costs compared with a US hire, and how to vet before you sign.
What do you need before the first payment?
Three things, all in place before money moves. A signed services contract covering scope, rate, currency, payment terms, IP assignment, confidentiality, notice and governing law. A completed tax form on file, which is a W-8BEN for an individual or a preduzetnik and a W-8BEN-E for a company. And an invoice with every field your bank will ask for.
Collect the tax form before you pay rather than after. It’s a one-page certification of foreign status that you keep in your records, and the IRS’s page on Form W-8BEN says the foreign person gives it to the payer, so it does not go to the IRS with your return.
What has to be on a Serbian contractor’s invoice?
A Serbian invoice to a US client carries the contractor’s identifiers, the amount, and full bank routing details. Ask for all of it on the first invoice, because an incomplete one is what sends a payment into limbo.
- Legal name and registered address, exactly as registered
- PIB (tax ID) and MB (registration number), where the setup has them
- Invoice number and date
- A line describing the service and the period it covers
- Amount and currency
- IBAN. Serbian IBANs begin with RS and run 22 characters
- SWIFT/BIC of their bank
- Intermediary (correspondent) bank details, for USD payments
Before the first payment, check the PIB or MB in the APR public register and confirm it matches the name on the contract. It’s free, it takes a minute, and it tells you the business you’re contracting with exists and is active.
The intermediary bank line is the one people skip. Many Serbian banks route incoming USD through a correspondent bank in the United States, and that bank’s name and SWIFT code have to go into your transfer exactly as the contractor’s bank supplied them. Leaving it out is the most common reason a USD payment bounces back or sits for days.
How do you send the money?
An international wire against the invoice is the standard route. Your bank needs the beneficiary’s legal name and address, the IBAN, the SWIFT/BIC, the intermediary bank for USD, and a reference, for which the invoice number works well.
One field decides who absorbs the bank fees. If your bank offers a choice of charge code, “OUR” means you pay all the fees and the contractor receives the full invoiced amount. “SHA” means banks along the route can take their cut from the transfer, so the money that lands is less than the invoice. Pick OUR where it’s available, and if it isn’t, agree with the contractor in advance who carries the shortfall so nobody is chasing a few dollars every month.
Put the invoice number in the payment reference. It makes the contractor’s bookkeeping straightforward, which matters because their accountant has to match every incoming foreign payment to an invoice.
Wire, Wise, Payoneer or a contractor platform, which should you use?
The rails differ in setup and in what the contractor has to do at their end. Ask which one they already use, because a contractor who has been working with foreign clients has a working setup and a preference.
| Rail | How it works | Suits | Watch for |
| International wire (SWIFT) | Bank to bank against an invoice | Monthly retainers and larger amounts | Intermediary bank details for USD, and the OUR versus SHA charge code |
| Wise | Transfer into the contractor’s account | Smaller or more frequent payments | Confirm their preference and which account receives it |
| Payoneer | Contractor receives into a Payoneer balance, then withdraws | Freelancers who already use it, and it’s common in Serbia | Their own withdrawal step and its timing |
| Contractor platform (Deel and similar) | Contract and payout in one place, monthly fee per contractor | Several contractors at once, or wanting the paperwork handled | The platform fee sits on top of the rate |
| Employer of Record | The provider employs your hire and bills you one monthly invoice | Employment rather than contracting | Gross salary plus about 15% employer contributions plus the provider’s fee |
I’m not going to tell you which is cheapest. Fees and exchange rates move, they depend on your bank and the amount, and anyone publishing a single number for that is guessing. Compare the total that lands in the contractor’s account on the first payment, then keep what worked.
Setting this up this week? Download the free US Founder’s Guide to Hiring From Serbia and send it to whoever handles your payments.
Which account should the money go to?
Pay the account on the invoice, and expect that account to match the setup. A preduzetnik or a DOO invoices from a registered business and gets paid into the business account. A registered freelancer has no business registration, so a personal foreign-currency account is the right destination for them.
A mismatch is worth one question before you send, not alarm. If an invoice from a registered business asks you to pay a personal account, ask why; their accountant may have a reason, or the details may simply be stale.
What currency should you pay in?
Pay in whatever currency the contract names, and agree that at contract stage rather than at the first invoice. Serbian banks hold USD accounts routinely and USD invoices are ordinary, so paying in dollars is straightforward.
Many professionals here still think in euros, because rent and large purchases in Serbia are quoted in euros. That’s a mental model, not an obstacle. On a long engagement, write down who carries exchange-rate movement, so a quarter where the dollar slides doesn’t turn into a renegotiation.
What does the US side require?
Collect the W-8BEN or W-8BEN-E, keep it on file, and that’s the bulk of it. Payments to a non-US person for services performed entirely outside the US are generally not US-source income, so there’s usually no US withholding and no 1099.
Have your CPA confirm it for your situation, especially if the contractor ever does any of the work while physically in the US, which changes the analysis.
What if you would rather pay one invoice a month?
That’s what an Employer of Record does: the provider employs your hire in Serbia, runs payroll, and bills you once a month. Your cost is the agreed gross salary, plus about 15% in employer contributions, plus the provider’s fee, which the largest international providers list at $599 to $699 per employee per month.
It suits employment rather than contracting, and some Serbian professionals prefer being employed for the paid leave and the contributions handled for them. Whether that trade is worth the fee depends on the role, which is a longer comparison than this post can carry.
FAQ
Can I pay a Serbian contractor in US dollars?
Yes. Serbian banks hold USD accounts routinely, and a USD invoice from a Serbian contractor is ordinary. For USD transfers, include the intermediary bank details that the contractor’s bank provides.
Do I file a 1099 for a Serbian contractor?
Generally no, when a non-US person performs the work outside the US. Collect a W-8BEN from an individual or a W-8BEN-E from a company, keep it in your files, and confirm the treatment with your CPA.
Why did my payment to Serbia arrive short?
Banks along the transfer route deducted their fees, which happens when the transfer is sent with a shared charge code rather than with the sender paying all fees. Choosing “OUR” where your bank offers it means the contractor receives the full invoiced amount.
How long does a wire to Serbia take?
A straightforward transfer with complete details usually clears in a few business days, moving through your bank, any correspondent bank, and then the contractor’s bank. Missing or mistyped intermediary bank details are what turn a few days into a week or a returned payment.
Next step
Download the free US Founder’s Guide to Hiring From Serbia for the paperwork, the costs by seniority, and the vetting steps.
If you still need the person, our job posting packages put your role in front of vetted Serbian candidates, or book a 15-minute discovery call and I’ll tell you what a realistic shortlist looks like.
Practical guidance, not legal or tax advice. Confirm your side with your CPA, and have your contractor confirm theirs with a Serbian accountant.
