Before you start

A tax number from the Public Revenue Office
An EMBG or foreigner's identification number
Access to the e-PDD system for the annual return

Step-by-step

1
Register with the Public Revenue Office
Registration produces the identification code used for both tax and contributions. Your employer handles the payroll side; you still need your own tax number for the annual return.
In personWho: You or your employer
2
Understand what leaves your gross pay
Contributions come off first — 18.8% pension and disability, 7.5% health, 1.2% unemployment, 0.5% work injury — then the monthly personal exemption is deducted, then 10% tax applies to what remains.
Via employerWho: Your employer
3
Apply the personal exemption
For 2026 the monthly tax reduction is MKD 10,932 and the annual figure MKD 131,184, set by the Minister of Finance in December 2025. It is indexed to planned net-wage growth, so it changes every year.
Via employerWho: Your employer
4
Check the contribution floor and ceiling
The base cannot be below 50% of the national average wage; for the self-employed the floor is the full average wage. The ceiling is sixteen average wages for employment income and twelve for the self-employed, in force since January 2018.
OnlineWho: You
5
Confirm the pre-filled annual return
The Public Revenue Office prepares the annual declaration by 30 April and you confirm or correct it by 31 May, through the e-PDD system. It is not a blank form — it is a proposal you are agreeing to.
OnlineWho: You30 April to 31 May

Documents you’ll need

Tax number and EMBG
Payslips and the employer's monthly calculation
e-PDD credentials
Documentation of any foreign income, if you are a Macedonian tax resident

Things most newcomers don’t know

The 10% rate covers every income category, not just salary.

Employment, self-employment, royalties, rent, capital gains and other income all sit at 10%; only gambling winnings differ, at 15%. That flatness is the country's headline tax proposition and it makes modelling a freelance move unusually simple.

Source: Ministry of Finance

The contribution ceiling is where high earners get relief, not the tax rate.

At sixteen average wages the base stops rising, so the effective contribution rate falls away above that point — the ceiling moves each January with the average wage the State Statistical Office publishes. Below it, 28% is the number that dominates a Macedonian payslip, not the 10%.

Source: Public Revenue Office

The annual return arrives pre-filled and the deadline to disagree is short.

A month between the Public Revenue Office publishing your declaration on 30 April and the 31 May confirmation deadline. If you have foreign income, a second employer or deductible items, that month is when to act — silence is agreement.

Source: Ministry of Finance

Residence for tax is not the same question as residence for immigration.

The Law on Personal Income Tax taxes residents on worldwide income and non-residents only on Macedonian-source income. If you keep foreign clients or foreign property, establish which side of that line you are on with the Public Revenue Office before your first annual return, not after.

Source: Ministry of Finance

Common mistakes to avoid

Quoting 10% as your total burden. Contributions are 28% of gross and they come off before the tax does.
Ignoring the pre-filled return because nothing seemed to need doing. Confirmation is required by 31 May and the declaration stands either way.
Using last year's personal exemption. It is re-set every December — MKD 10,932 a month for 2026.
Assuming a foreign-invoicing freelance arrangement is invisible. Registration as a sole trader is the normal route, and it carries its own minimum contribution base of a full average wage.

Some of this may be out of date. Spotted something inaccurate? Help us keep it right for the next newcomer.