Montenegrin VAT comes back to a company three different ways, and they are not interchangeable. Which one your business may use is decided before you look at a single invoice — by whether you are registered in Montenegro, whether you have a business unit or a tax representative there, and whether you made any taxable supply in the period. Choose the wrong route and the answer is not a smaller refund; it is no refund, with a deadline that has already run.
Sources, checked 21 September 2026: Zakon o porezu na dodatu vrijednost — the applied consolidated text, chain "Sl. list RCG" 65/2001 to "Sl. list CG" 012/26; the new Act, "Sl. list CG" 104/26 of 17.07.2026; Pravilnik o primjeni Zakona o porezu na dodatu vrijednost, consolidated text from the Ministry of Finance document service. This is general information about procedure, not advice on your matter.
First, check which VAT Act you are reading
Montenegro passed a new VAT Act in 2026, and it is in force and not applied. Article 213 of the new Act is explicit: it enters into force on the eighth day after publication, "a primjenjivaće se od dana pristupanja Crne Gore Evropskoj uniji" — it will apply from the day Montenegro accedes to the European Union. Article 212 matches it: the old Act ceases to be valid on the day the new one begins to apply, and it lists that old chain ending at 12/26.
So today's VAT is still the old Act. This matters more than it sounds, because the two texts renumber everything. The general rate of 21% is Article 24 in the applied Act and Article 64 in the new one; the refund for a business not established in the country is Article 51 in the applied Act and Article 104 in the new one. The new Act's refund chapter is also written around EU concepts — it refunds taxable persons "not established in the Union" and cross-refers to Directive 2008/9/EC — a regime that does not exist in Montenegro yet. A citation taken from the new text today points at a provision that does not govern your invoice.
Everything below is from the applied Act and its implementing regulation.
| Route | Who uses it | Core provision |
|---|---|---|
| Input VAT credit or refund | A business registered for VAT in Montenegro | Act Article 50; Regulation Article 109 |
| Refund to a business not established in Montenegro | A foreign business charged Montenegrin VAT that makes no taxable supply there | Act Article 51; Regulation Articles 110–114 |
| Traveller (tax-free) refund | The buyer claims it — but every duty in the scheme falls on the seller | Act Article 52; Regulation Articles 115–117 |
Route 1 — the input VAT credit, and when it becomes cash
If in a tax period your input VAT exceeds your output VAT, Article 50(1) gives you a choice: carry the difference forward as a tax credit for the next period, or request it back, payable within 60 days of filing the VAT return.
Two categories get a shorter clock. Under Article 50(2), a taxpayer that predominantly exports and a taxpayer that has shown an input surplus in more than three consecutive VAT returns are refunded within 30 days of filing. "Predominantly exporting" is not left to argument: Regulation Article 109(3) defines it as a taxpayer whose income from abroad exceeds 51% of total income, and Article 109(4) requires a separate application for that status, stating the firm, the PIB, and the export figures with the documents they come from.
Two things reduce the payout before it reaches you. If other taxes are overdue, Article 50(3) reduces the VAT difference by the tax debt, and Regulation Article 109(5)–(6) has the authority redirect the credit to those taxes by a formal decision. And where you owe a customs debt in respect of import VAT, Article 50(4) lets you ask for the money to be redirected to pay import VAT instead.
The clock starts at filing, so the filing rule matters: Article 35(1)–(2) requires a monthly VAT return, filed electronically by the 15th of the month following the period, and Article 35(3) requires it whether or not any VAT is payable — the routine our Montenegro tax and accounting guide sets out in full. Payment falls due the same day under Article 36(1). Miss the return and Article 35(6) lets the authority estimate the liability by comparison with a similar taxpayer.
Route 2 — the refund for a business not established in Montenegro
This is the route foreign companies ask about: Montenegrin VAT was charged on a trade fair, on professional services, on goods bought or imported, and there is no Montenegrin entity to deduct it. Article 51(1) gives the right. Article 51(2) sets two conditions: the goods or services must have been acquired for the activity the claimant carries on abroad, under conditions that would have given a right to deduct had that activity been carried on in Montenegro; and in the period claimed, the claimant must have made no supply treated as made in Montenegro — with narrow exceptions for certain import- and export-related services and for supplies on which the recipient must pay the VAT.
Before the procedure, read the gate in Regulation Article 110, because it decides whether you are in this route at all:
- Article 110(1): a foreign person carrying on business through a business unit, and a foreign person that has appointed a tax representative for its activity in Montenegro, has no right to a refund under Article 51. Such a person deducts input VAT instead, if it meets the conditions in Article 37.
- Article 110(2): a foreign person "from paragraph 1" that does not appoint a tax representative has no right to an input VAT refund under Article 51. The words "from paragraph 1" carry the whole provision: it is aimed at a foreign person that has activity in Montenegro, not at one with no Montenegrin activity at all.
- Article 110(3): paragraph 2 does not apply to a foreign person supplying services under Article 17(3) of the Act to a person who is liable to pay the VAT — the reverse-charge case. That connects to Article 12(1)(2) of the Act: where a person with no seat in Montenegro does not appoint a tax representative, the recipient pays the VAT.
Put plainly: having a presence in Montenegro pushes you out of the refund route and into deduction. Having activity there without appointing a representative pushes you out of both. The refund is for the business that is genuinely outside.
| Step | Requirement |
|---|---|
| Where to file | Tax authority in Podgorica, Filijala Podgorica (Regulation Article 111(1)) |
| Form | ZP-PDV-S; on the first claim a reference number is assigned and must be quoted thereafter (Article 111(3)–(6)) |
| Who may file | The claimant or a representative with a power of attorney — and the representative must be a domestic taxpayer (Article 111(8)–(9)) |
| Period claimed | At least six months, at most one calendar year; shorter only if it is the remainder of a calendar year (Article 112(1)–(2)) |
| Attachments | Original invoices and import documents, plus a certificate from the foreign tax authority that the claimant is a VAT taxpayer there, not older than six months (Article 112(3)) |
| Declarations | No taxable supply in Montenegro in the period bar the listed exceptions; data true; any wrongly received amount will be repaid (Article 112(4)) |
| Filing deadline | Within six months after the end of the calendar year in which the VAT was charged (Article 112(5)) |
| Minimum claim | €300, or €100 for the short remainder-of-year period (Article 113(1)) |
| Payout | By decision, to a non-resident account at a bank authorised for foreign business and seated in Montenegro, or to the representative's Montenegrin account, within 45 days of receipt of the request (Article 114(1)) |
Three practical points hide in that table. The six-month filing deadline runs from the end of the calendar year, so VAT charged in January and VAT charged in December die on the same day — and a company that discovers the invoice eighteen months later has nothing to file. The originals are not a formality either: Article 113(2) requires invoices carrying all the data in Article 32 of the Act, and Article 113(3) has the authority stamp the approved originals "Iskorišćeno pravo na povraćaj PDV" and return them, so the same invoice cannot be claimed twice. And the money lands only on a Montenegrin-seated bank account — the claimant's own non-resident account or the representative's — with the payment costs borne by the claimant under Article 114(2).
If the claim is refused in whole or in part, Article 114(3) requires a decision, and a decision starts the clock described in our note on the Montenegrin tax authority's deadlines and appeals. Article 114(4) runs the other way: if VAT was refunded and the data prove inaccurate, the claimant must repay it.
Route 3 — the tax-free scheme, read from the seller's side
Article 52(1) gives a natural person with no permanent or temporary residence in Montenegro the right to a refund on goods bought in Montenegro and taken out; Article 52(2) excludes mineral oils, alcohol and alcoholic drinks, and tobacco. The buyer claims it — but every operative duty sits on the retailer, which is why this belongs on a business page.
Regulation Article 115(2) sets four conditions: the value per invoice, or across several invoices issued the same day by the same seller, must exceed €100; the seller must issue a completed form PDV-PP with the invoices attached; the buyer must take the goods out of Montenegro within three months of purchase, with posting counted as export provided the goods leave the customs territory; and the goods must be presented to customs, which certifies the PDV-PP and the invoices and enters the border-crossing date.
Article 115(1) reaches further than shopping: it covers spare parts fitted during repair and servicing into motor vehicles, vessels and aircraft registered outside the tax territory. And Article 115(3) carries a rule that matters on this coast — for vessels and goods built into them that remain moored in Montenegro, the refund can be obtained without taking them out of the country, provided export-import customs clearance was carried out under the Trade Act.
The seller's file is prescribed. Under Article 116(1) the PDV-PP is completed in three copies — the buyer keeps the original and one copy, the seller keeps the second. Article 116(2) requires the form to show the total amount paid, the consideration without VAT, the rate, the VAT amount, the total VAT to be refunded and the form's record number. The seller charges the full price including VAT and pays that VAT over with its ordinary return under Article 116(3)–(4). Article 116(5)–(6) requires a separate register on form PDV-E, recording the invoice number and date, the price without VAT, the VAT contained, the VAT refunded, and the date of refund.
Then the refund itself, under Article 117. The buyer must deliver the certified original PDV-PP back to the seller within six months of the invoice date, and that certified original is the refund request. The seller checks the conditions and refunds in euro, in cash or by transfer — and the timing differs: a cash refund must be made immediately, while a transfer must be made within 15 days of receiving the request. A buyer paid in cash signs the PDV-PP to acknowledge receipt.
| The seller must | Provision |
|---|---|
| Issue PDV-PP in three copies for a purchase over €100 per invoice, or across invoices issued the same day | Articles 115(2) and 116(1) |
| Show on it the amount paid, the consideration without VAT, the rate, the VAT, the total refundable and the record number | Article 116(2) |
| Charge the full price with VAT and pay that VAT over with the ordinary return | Articles 116(3)–(4) |
| Keep a separate PDV-E register of forms issued and refunds made | Articles 116(5)–(6) |
| Refund in euro on the customs-certified original returned within six months of the invoice date | Article 117(1) |
| Pay immediately in cash, or within 15 days by transfer | Article 117(4) |
A retailer that offers tax-free shopping without the PDV-E register, or that treats the 15-day transfer deadline as advisory, is carrying an exposure that its ordinary VAT compliance will not surface.
What to fix before the year ends
The routes are separated by facts you control: registration, whether there is a business unit or an appointed representative, and whether any supply was made in Montenegro in the period. Decide that before the invoices accumulate, because the Article 112(5) deadline is annual and unforgiving, and because Article 110 can move you between routes without anything changing on the invoice itself. If you are still deciding how the Montenegrin side should be set up, our notes on Montenegrin VAT numbers and PIB checks and on importing and exporting through Montenegro cover the registration and import-VAT sides.
If your company has been charged Montenegrin VAT and is not registered there, send us the invoices and the dates before the six-month window after year end closes. The eligibility question turns on facts from the period, not on the invoice. Our international tax practice works from the documents.
