Position dated 5 September 2026. Status: In force. Instrument: Pravilnik o bližem načinu izvještavanja o prethodnim poreskim mišljenjima s prekograničnim uticajem i prethodnim sporazumima o transfernim cijenama, Official Gazette of Montenegro 118/2026, published 7 August 2026, in force 15 August 2026, made under Article 14i(18) of the tax procedure act as amended by Gazette 104/2026.
A comfort ruling is worth having because it is private between the taxpayer and the authority that gave it. Article 14i changes the second half of that sentence. It does not touch whether a ruling binds; it decides who else gets to read it, and the window it opens runs backwards.
The look-back, year by year
| Period the ruling was issued, amended or renewed | Treatment |
|---|---|
| After 31 December 2016 | Exchanged automatically |
| 1 January 2014 to 31 December 2016 | Exchanged whether or not still in force |
| 1 January 2012 to 31 December 2013 | Exchanged only if in force on 1 January 2014 |
| Before 1 April 2016 | Not exchanged where the group's annual net turnover was under 40,000,000 euros — unless it mainly carries on financial or investment activity |
| Advance pricing agreements | Exchanged where issued, amended or renewed after 31 December 2026 |
Two things follow. The first is that a ruling obtained more than a decade ago, long since spent, can still be in scope: the 2014–2016 band is exchanged regardless of whether it remains in force. The second is that the turnover carve-out is narrower than it looks, because it does not apply to a group whose business is mainly financial or investment activity — which is exactly the profile of many holding structures.
Rulings about a person, not a company
Article 14i(14) starts with an exclusion: a ruling that concerns only the tax position of one or more individuals is not exchanged. Then it takes most of it back. The exclusion falls away where the ruling was issued, amended or renewed after 1 January 2026 and either the transaction or series of transactions exceeds 1,500,000 euros, or the ruling determines whether the person is resident in Montenegro for tax purposes.
Read the second limb slowly. A ruling on tax residence has no threshold attached. If you asked Montenegro in 2026 to confirm that you had become resident here, that confirmation is within the exchange regime by its subject matter alone, and the states that learn of it are the ones with an interest in the answer being different.
The rulebook adds a narrow relief in the other direction: rulings about individuals do not include those on withholding at source on a non-resident's employment income, directors' remuneration or pensions.
What actually gets sent, and when
Twelve fields go out: the identity of the person and, where relevant, the group; a summary of the ruling with a description of the activities or transactions; the dates of issue, of first effect and of expiry; the type; the amount of the transaction; the transfer pricing criteria and method; the other states affected; the persons affected and the states they are connected with; and whether the information rests on the document itself or on another state's request. The summary must be written so that it does not disclose a commercial, industrial or professional secret, a trade process, or anything whose disclosure would offend public policy.
The timing is in Article 3 of the rulebook: immediately after a ruling is issued, amended or renewed, and in any case within three months of the end of the half of the calendar year in which that happened. The European Commission receives the same package minus four fields — the identity of the person, the summary, the transfer pricing criteria, and the identification of affected persons. Receipt of an incoming ruling is acknowledged within seven working days. If you hold a Montenegrin structure and have ever asked for written comfort on it, our company formation page sets out how we work through the corporate side, and our note on cross-border arrangement reporting covers the duty that sits beside this one.
What did not change
A ruling that binds still binds. Nothing in Article 14i or in the rulebook reopens a ruling, shortens it, or makes it conditional on the exchange. Nor does the regime create a public register: the material moves between competent authorities and, in reduced form, to the Commission. Bilateral and multilateral advance pricing agreements with third countries stay outside automatic exchange where the underlying treaty forbids disclosure to third parties, and move by spontaneous exchange only if it permits disclosure and the other authority agrees.
How to verify
The rulebook is at sluzbenilist.me/propisi/397027, two pages, signed on 29 July 2026. Article 2(2) lists the twelve fields; Article 2(3) carves out withholding rulings on individuals; Article 3(2) names the four fields the Commission does not receive.
The statutory article is in the amending law at 396192, pages 6 to 8. Paragraph 9 sets the forward dates, paragraphs 10 to 12 the look-back, paragraph 13 the turnover carve-out and paragraph 14 the rule on individuals. Read paragraph 14 against paragraph 9 rather than on its own — the exception is where the substance is. We follow this file under Legal Updates.