Students who participated in the "Work and Travel" program protested in front of the Directorate of Public Revenue. They say that even though they worked abroad during the summer and were previously exempt from tax on the income they earned, the state now calculates tax on them and requires them to pay it on this income.
"A student worked there for three years, earned, let's say, 6.000 euros a year and spent that money on studies, rent, bought a car, and now he has earned a total of 18.000 euros, he has to pay 10%, so 1.800 euros. Germany gives us this money back to support us as young people, to motivate us and to be a good factor in society and to do something positive with our education, while here they punish us for this," said the student.
Workers from Afghanistan and Iraq also protested, saying they did not receive timely information that they must pay taxes.
"An institution cannot disappear for five years and then, after five years, wake up and say: hey, you have taxes for 2020. But where is that calculation that was handed to us in 2021?" declared Žikiča Milanov, a worker in Afghanistan in 2020.
DAP Director Elena Petrova stated that funds received as tax refunds will not be taxed, but only income earned abroad.
"The salary earned in Germany by a tax resident of Macedonia must be taxed in Germany, but if it is not taxed in Germany, then the tax is paid in Macedonia. Here we do not distinguish which category of citizens we are talking about, or any other citizen who earns income from work," emphasized Elena Petrova, director of the DAP.
The Public Revenue Directorate informs that until 2024 the data have not been systematically processed, while their analysis has begun exactly that year. For 2024, a tax of 171,6 million denars has been determined, of which 30,4 million denars have been collected so far. For 2025, according to data from banks, 70.869 people have been registered with income in a total value of 577 million euros. So far, 9.522 notifications have been sent, while 4.459 voluntary declarations have also been recorded. /Alsat/
