The non-functionality of the Tax Administration's new IRMS system is creating major problems for businessmen, accountants, lawyers and notaries, while the Tax Administration is postponing the deadlines for the digital processing of IOPPD forms (calculation of taxes and contributions on monthly earnings) and VAT returns for the third time.
For a month and a half, the part of the system for processing IOPPD forms, for establishing new companies or changing authorized persons, has not been working at all, while the part of the digital system related to the possibility of submitting financial reports and issuing certificates, certificates and similar documents is working partially and occasionally.
The Employers' Union told "Vijesti" that due to problems in the work of the IRMS, they requested that the deadline from the Law on Business Companies for the mandatory harmonization of statutory acts by March 31 be extended until the end of September, and that they organized several consultations and workshops with the Tax Administration in order to try to overcome the problems.
Lawyer Andrea Adzic points out that since December 30, the part of the system related to the former central register of business entities has been completely out of operation, meaning that it has been impossible to establish a new company or change the authorized person and make other statutory changes for a month and a half, which, as he claims, has blocked the economy.
On December 30, the Tax Administration stopped accepting paper applications and forms and completely switched to the digital IRMS system, with the announcement that it would be fully functional from January 12. Since the legal deadline for submitting IOPPD forms and VAT returns is the 15th of the month for the previous month, the Tax Administration first postponed that deadline, as well as the announcement of the full implementation of the system, to January 30, and since the problem had not been resolved by then, the Tax Administration is again postponing the deadline to February 15. According to a new announcement by the Tax Administration, the deadline for implementing the system and submitting IOPPD forms and VAT returns has now been postponed to February 27.
The Employers' Union told "Vijesti" that challenges in using the new IRMS were present from the very beginning of its implementation.
"Guided by this, the Employers' Union held two consultations for its members last month, so that they could receive all the necessary clarifications, information and instructions for using the new IRMS through presentations and direct communication with the competent Tax Administration services. These workshops were of great importance for improving communication between businessmen and the Tax Administration, exchange of information, clarification of open issues and constructive dialogue," the organization stated.
They state that on January 1, the new Law on Business Companies came into force, with the obligation to harmonize the statutory acts of all companies with the new law by March 31, 2026.
"The new integrated information system that monitors this harmonisation procedure was actually blocked at certain periods, which caused an alarming situation for business entities and significantly slowed down regular business operations, as well as activities before other state authorities. On this occasion, the Employers' Union sent a request to the Government and the Competitiveness Council at the end of January to extend the harmonisation deadline from three to nine months. We hope that we will find understanding, bearing in mind that around 70.000 entities are required to re-register, which is objectively impossible to complete within the current deadline," the MEF announced.
Lawyer Adžić states that the Tax Administration announced IRMS as a key step towards a modern and efficient tax administration, which will begin operating on January 12th.
"However, instead of facilitating business and speeding up procedures, Montenegro entered a complete institutional and technical collapse of the tax system on that date. From December 30, 2025, when the Tax Administration stopped accepting paper applications, to this day, the economy has been practically blocked. The IRMS website is inaccessible, slow or occasionally works for only an hour or two, after which it stops again. The part of the system that includes the establishment of companies and corporate status changes is not functional at all. The system that was supposed to improve the business environment, that same environment has paralyzed," Adžić stated.
She points out that a particular problem is that no transitional solution is foreseen.
"In all serious administrative reforms, especially those related to digitalization, the standard is the parallel functioning of the old and new systems during the transitional period. In Montenegro, the opposite happened: the old system was shut down 'overnight', while the new one did not come to life. The silence of the institutions is particularly worrying. The Director of the Tax Administration is not making an announcement, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Justice, or the Notary Chamber are not reacting. Instead of official explanations and clear deadlines, the business community has been hearing the same sentence for days: "everything will be ready next week". That next week, however, never comes. This is not a technical problem. This is an institutional failure with direct economic consequences. It is impossible to explain to foreign investors that a state that is declaratively fighting for investments, at the same time cannot register a single new company," said Adžić.
She states that a legitimate question now arises: who will bear responsibility for the damage caused to the economy, citizens, and the state.
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