Yes, a web shop in Serbia issues a fiscal receipt for every sale to a private individual, whether the customer pays by card, bank transfer, IPS instant payment or cash on delivery. If you sell only online, you do not need a cash register in the office: you work through the Tax Administration’s free virtual processor (V-PFR) and a certified ESIR invoicing system, and send the customer an electronic receipt with a verification link.
So the question is not “whether” but which receipt, at what moment, and what WooCommerce should do when an order status changes. That is where most mistakes happen, and there is almost nothing written about it for Serbia. Below you will find a payment × moment → receipt matrix, a WooCommerce status mapping, the new QR code rule from September 2026 and the myths we still see.
In short: A payment received before the goods ship is an advance and gets an advance receipt. When the goods ship, a final receipt referencing the advance is issued. With cash on delivery, the receipt is created at dispatch and travels with the parcel. Refunds go through a “Sale refund” receipt. A seller who sells only online sends the receipt electronically. Since September 2026, a receipt with a QR code not generated by the Tax Administration system brings a one-year business ban, imposed immediately.
Who must fiscalize online sales
The Fiscalization Act (Official Gazette of the RS, No. 153/2020, 96/2021, 138/2022 and 80/2026) covers retail sales and advances received (Article 3). A retail sale is any sale to private individuals, and any sale in a retail outlet regardless of who the buyer is. Article 4 adds that every individual sale is recorded regardless of the payment method: cash, instant transfer, payment card or any other non-cash method.
Two more provisions matter for a web shop:
- An online seller’s registered seat counts as a retail outlet (Article 3(4), introduced in 2022). That is why sales to companies through a web shop, as a rule, do not fall outside fiscalization either, as explained below.
- A seller who sells exclusively online does not need a local processor (L-PFR, Article 6(4)). It works through the V-PFR, software on the Tax Administration’s server, which is free.
Back in 2022 the Tax Administration stated explicitly that a seller must issue a fiscal receipt when selling online. If delivery is included in the price, one receipt is issued.
What your web shop needs to issue fiscal receipts
- Registration of the business premises on the Tax Administration portal (before you start using a fiscal device).
- A secure element for the V-PFR, issued by the Tax Administration.
- An ESIR, the software that creates receipts and sends them to the processor. It must be certified and entered in the Tax Administration register. You pay the provider, usually monthly or per receipt.
- A connector linking WooCommerce to the ESIR, as a plugin or through the provider’s API.
A cash register, a receipt printer and a local processor are not needed if you sell only online.
Which receipt, when: the web shop matrix
The Rulebook on types of fiscal receipts knows two receipt types (normal sale and advance) and two transaction types (sale and refund). They produce the four receipts a web shop uses: Sale, Sale refund, Advance sale and Advance refund.
| Situation | When the receipt is created | Which receipt |
|---|---|---|
| Card payment on the site, goods ship later | When the payment is received | Advance sale |
| Bank transfer or IPS | No later than the next working day after the payment arrives, showing the payment date | Advance sale |
| Shipping goods paid in advance | At dispatch | Final Sale receipt, referencing the advance receipt number |
| Cash on delivery | At dispatch, the receipt travels with the parcel | Sale |
| Collection and payment in the shop | At collection | Sale |
| Withdrawal or complaint with a refund | When the money is refunded | Sale refund, referencing the original receipt |
| Order cancelled after payment, before shipping | When the payment is returned | Advance refund |
Three notes on the matrix:
- Advance deadline for bank transfers (Article 11 of the Rulebook): the advance receipt is issued no later than the next working day after the funds arrive and shows the date they were received. A shop that “tidies up” payments once a week breaks this deadline.
- Cash on delivery. Under the VAT Act a supply of goods takes place on the day dispatch begins, so the receipt is created at dispatch and goes in the parcel, not when the courier collects the money. Agree the payment-method code for cash on delivery with your accountant and your ESIR provider, because practice varies.
- Closing the advance. The final receipt references the advance receipt number. The exact sequence (Advance refund followed by Sale, or a single step) depends on the ESIR, and it is the first question to ask your provider.
WooCommerce: which status triggers which receipt
WooCommerce statuses were not designed for Serbian fiscalization. The connector therefore has to know which status change triggers which receipt. This is a mapping that follows the matrix above:
| WooCommerce status | What it means | Fiscal action |
|---|---|---|
| Pending payment | The customer has not finished paying | Nothing |
| On hold | Waiting for a bank transfer | Nothing until the money arrives, then Advance sale |
| Processing (card) | Paid, waiting to ship | Advance sale |
| Processing (cash on delivery) | Order received, not paid | Nothing |
| Completed or a custom “Shipped” status | Goods shipped | Sale (closing the advance, or the cash on delivery receipt) |
| Refunded or partial refund | Money returned | Sale refund for the exact amount |
| Cancelled after payment | Cancelled before shipping | Advance refund |
The traps we see most often:
- Double fiscalization. An operator moves an order from “Completed” back to “Processing” and then to “Completed” again, and the connector issues a second receipt. A good connector remembers that the order already has a receipt.
- Partial refunds. The customer returns one of three items. Some connectors only send full refunds, so the partial one ends up without a receipt. Test this before launch.
- Delivery as a line item. If you charge for delivery, it must be a line on the receipt with the correct tax label, otherwise the receipt total does not match the payment.
- Coupons and discounts must be spread across the line items, not added as a negative line the ESIR rejects.
- The buyer’s tax ID (PIB). If you sell to companies, the checkout needs a PIB field that the connector passes to the receipt.
- Testing. The ESIR has a “training” mode whose receipts carry the note “THIS IS NOT A FISCAL RECEIPT”. Everything above is tested there, not on real customers.
New since September 2026: a fake QR code means a one-year ban
An amendment to the Fiscalization Act was published in the Official Gazette of the RS No. 80/2026 on 1 September 2026 and entered into force on the eighth day after publication. A new point in Article 12 provides for a one-year ban on doing business for a receipt with a QR code that was not generated in the Tax Administration’s e-fiscalization system, does not lead to the Tax Administration portal, leads to a different receipt, amount, date, items or taxpayer, or was altered or combined afterwards. The measure is imposed immediately.
For a web shop this means:
- Do not build your own “PDF receipt” with a QR code or link copied from the ESIR, and do not merge it with a pro forma invoice or a delivery note.
- Send the customer the receipt exactly as the ESIR generated it, or the verification link that leads to the Tax Administration portal.
- If someone offers you a “nicer” receipt template with a QR code, ask where the QR code is generated. If the answer is not “in the Tax Administration system”, do not use it.
Electronic or paper receipt
Under Article 13 of the Rulebook, a receipt is issued on paper as a rule, and electronically with the buyer’s consent. One exception matters for web shops: a seller who sells exclusively online issues the receipt in electronic form, with a verification hyperlink.
If you also have a physical shop, you need the buyer’s consent for an electronic receipt. The simplest way is to get it at checkout, as a confirmation box, and describe it in your terms of sale. A sample clause:
Fiscal receipt. We issue the fiscal receipt in electronic form and send it to the email address given in the order, with a link to verify it on the Tax Administration portal. [For sellers who also sell in a physical shop: By confirming the order you agree to receive the receipt electronically. If you want a printed receipt, say so in the order note and we will send it with the parcel.] For payments in advance we first issue an advance receipt, and the final receipt when the goods ship.
The rest of the terms of sale, including the 14-day withdrawal, is available as a template in our guide to terms of use and terms of sale.
Sales to companies and the public sector
When a company buys through your web shop, as a rule you issue a fiscal receipt showing the buyer’s PIB, because an online seller’s seat counts as a retail outlet (Article 3(4)). Sales to companies outside a retail outlet are not retail sales, but under the law online sales do not fall into that category. Interpretations differ in this area, so check the specific case with your accountant.
For tax periods after 31 March 2026 (amendments to the Electronic Invoicing Act, Official Gazette of the RS No. 109/2025), retail sales to a public sector entity, at its request, and to a corporate card holder also require an e-invoice, but not before the fiscal receipt. If you sell to schools, municipalities or institutions, your process must support both documents.
Refunds under the new Consumer Protection Act
The new Consumer Protection Act (Official Gazette of the RS No. 35/2026) applies from 2 August 2026. When a customer withdraws from a purchase, the seller must return everything paid, including delivery costs, within 14 days of receiving the withdrawal form, using the same payment method (Article 35). The refund may be withheld until the goods or proof of dispatch arrive.
Every refund is accompanied by a Sale refund receipt referencing the original receipt. We explain withdrawal from the customer’s side in our guide to returning goods bought online in Serbia.
Penalties
The biggest risk is not the fine but the business ban: the inspector imposes it the first time unrecorded sales are found. For a web shop that means 15 days without sales.
| Offence | Penalty |
|---|---|
| Sale not recorded or receipt not fiscalized at the time of sale (Article 15) | Legal entity RSD 300,000 to 2,000,000, sole trader RSD 50,000 to 500,000, responsible person RSD 20,000 to 150,000 |
| Unrecorded sales found during an inspection (Article 12) | Business ban: 15 days the first time, 90 days the second, one year the third within 24 months |
| Receipt with a QR code not from the Tax Administration system (Article 12, since 2026) | One-year business ban, imposed immediately |
Myths we still see
- “Online sales via courier do not need a register.” This dates from the old Fiscal Cash Registers Act. Under the current law, every retail sale is fiscalized regardless of the payment method.
- “Cash on delivery needs no receipt.” That is a Croatian rule, repeated by Croatian articles about “Fiskalizacija 2.0”. It does not apply in Serbia.
- “When a company buys, an invoice is enough.” For online sales, because of Article 3(4), a fiscal receipt with the buyer’s PIB is the rule.
- “A PDF with a QR code is a receipt.” Since September 2026 that is the fastest route to a business ban.
How to choose an ESIR and a connector
Before you sign with a provider, get answers to these seven questions:
- Is the ESIR entered in the Tax Administration register?
- Does it support advance receipts and closing them?
- Does it support partial refunds?
- Does the connector prevent fiscalizing the same order twice?
- Does it pass the buyer’s PIB from checkout?
- Does it email the receipt or the verification link to the customer, without a custom QR template?
- What is the price per receipt or per month, and what happens when the ESIR is unavailable?
There are several connectors on WordPress.org. Check the date of the last update and whether it was built for Serbian fiscalization, because many plugins with “fiskalizacija” in the name are Croatian. An example of a Serbian connector supporting advances, refunds, PIB and training mode is Fiscomm PURS E-Fiscalisation. We do not recommend a specific provider, because the choice depends on your payment methods and volume.
When to hand this over
Fiscalization in a web shop is not a plugin you switch on, but an order flow that has to match the law. When we build an online shop, we connect the ESIR you choose, map the statuses, set up delivery, discounts and the PIB field, and test advances, cash on delivery and partial refunds in training mode before the first real order. You can get an indicative price, including the fiscalization option, in our website cost calculator.
Note: This article is a practical guide, not tax advice. Check specific cases, especially cash on delivery, sales to companies and tax-rate labels, with your accountant. The legal position was checked on 12 October 2026.
FAQ: fiscalization for web shops in Serbia
Does an online shop need a fiscal cash register?
If you sell exclusively online, you need neither a physical register nor a local processor. You fiscalize through the Tax Administration’s free virtual processor (V-PFR) and a certified ESIR. You must issue a fiscal receipt for every sale to a private individual.
Is cash on delivery fiscalized?
Yes. The seller, not the courier, issues the receipt at dispatch, and it goes with the parcel or electronically. The rule that cash on delivery is not fiscalized is Croatian and does not apply in Serbia.
When is an advance receipt issued for a bank transfer?
No later than the next working day after the payment arrives, showing the date the money was received. When the goods ship, a final receipt referencing the advance receipt number is issued.
Does a web shop have to print the fiscal receipt?
No, if it sells exclusively online. Such a seller issues the receipt electronically with a verification link. A seller who also has a physical shop needs the buyer’s consent for an electronic receipt.
How is a refund fiscalized?
With a “Sale refund” receipt referencing the original receipt number. If the order is cancelled after payment but before shipping, an “Advance refund” is issued.
What is new in the Fiscalization Act in 2026?
The amendment published in the Official Gazette of the RS No. 80/2026 introduces a one-year business ban, imposed immediately, for a receipt with a QR code that was not generated in the Tax Administration system or was later altered or combined.
Does a company buying through a web shop get a fiscal receipt or an invoice?
As a rule a fiscal receipt with the buyer’s PIB, because an online seller’s seat counts as a retail outlet. A public sector entity, at its request, also gets an e-invoice, but not before the fiscal receipt.
Sources: Fiscalization Act, Official Gazette of the RS No. 80/2026, Rulebook on types of fiscal receipts, Tax Administration: selling goods online, Tax Administration: frequently asked questions, KPMG: Electronic Invoicing Act amendments, Consumer Protection Act 2026.
