For the Budva Local Public Revenue Administration, judging by the annual report, 2025 was a profitable year when it came to tax collection, but the tourist season was worse compared to 2024.
The administration, which is a municipal body responsible for determining, controlling and collecting local public revenues, as the director told "Vijesti" Vesna Kovačević, during 2025, it collected 27.087.233,43 euros in real estate tax. This is as much as six million euros more than the year before because, as stated in the annual data, the Administration collected real estate tax in the amount of 21.205.198,52 euros in 2024.
Kovačević recalled that the Budva Municipality budget plan for 2025 planned to collect an annual real estate tax in the amount of 20.500.000 euros.
"The excess amount of annual real estate tax collected in 2025 compared to the planned amount in 2025 amounts to 6.587.233,43 euros," Kovačević emphasized.
The record collection of real estate taxes achieved last year practically provided the city government with complete comfort to realize all its obligations, while the Municipality remains solvent and has a full cash flow at all times.
The collection of real estate taxes is one of the key sources of revenue on which the city treasury relies, and more than 20 million euros are collected on this basis every year.
According to Kovačević, the number of decisions issued on forced collection of annual real estate tax in 2025 was 3.229.
The Administration has frozen the property of taxpayers who, despite the decisions and deadlines, have not settled their debts to the Municipality. Due to unpaid taxes, real estate from Jaz to Buljarica has been frozen - apartments, hotels, land...
"The number of mortgage decisions for the annual real estate tax in 2025 is 905," Kovačević emphasized.
Registering a mortgage on the property of tax debtors is one of the mechanisms that the Local Public Revenue Administration relies on in the internal procedure for implementing legal regulations to ensure that debts are settled. As previously explained to "Vijesti", if the taxpayer fails to settle the obligation within the set deadline, the Administration issues a decision on forced collection, which is delivered to the debtor.
If payment is not made within ten days, and in the case of natural persons, the procedure for forced collection is initiated through the Central Bank by blocking all active accounts or by administrative prohibition with the employer. Also, as explained, if the obligation is not collected within the specified period according to the above solutions, a decision is issued to secure the tax claim, which implies the registration of a charge on the property, which is recorded with the Cadastre and State Property Administration.
On the other hand, as "Vijesti" was told, in the case of legal entities, the decision is sent to the taxpayer and if they do not pay the tax debt within 10 days, the decision on securing the tax claim is sent to the Central Bank.
If there is no inflow of funds, a decision is made to secure the tax claim, which includes the registration of a lien and a restriction on the property owned by the taxpayer, which is registered with the Cadastre Administration. If the taxpayer, after registering the mortgage, makes the full payment of the tax debt, interest and procedural costs, a written request is submitted to the Local Public Revenue Administration, after which a new request is sent to the Cadastre and State Property Administration to erase the lien on the mortgage. In the most difficult cases, after unsuccessful collection through the registration of liens and restrictions on the property owned by the tax debtor. The Administration will proceed to settle the claim through an out-of-court or court sale of the real estate encumbered by the mortgage, which is the procedure carried out for tax debtors.
Less tourist tax charged
Although the Local Public Revenue Administration exceeded the planned amount of residence tax collection in the 2025 budget, the amount collected is less than what was collected in 2024.
"The planned amount of residence tax collection in 2025 was 4.000.000 euros, while 4.243.274,42 euros were collected. The residence tax collection in 2024 was 4.344.400,22 euros. The residence tax collection in 2025 is about 2,3 percent lower than in 2024," Kovačević emphasized.
The Local Public Revenue Administration issued 133 decisions on forced collection of residence tax in 2025.
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