The limitations of entrepreneurship development in Bosnia and Herzegovina with special emphasis on tax regulations and procedures

Small and medium-sized enterprises account for over 99% of active businesses in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and face a number of limitations when performing their business activities. A number of those limitations relate to the nature of small and medium-sized enterprises, but most are due to the inadequate legal and regulatory framework for doing business. A disincentivised business environment and lack of a unified economic policy and sector strategies further complicate the position of small and medium-sized enterprises. The aim of this paper is to show the limitations faced by these companies. To this end, an investigation involving 119 small and medium-sized enterprises in Bosnia and Herzegovina was conducted. Convenience sampling was used in the research. Based on the survey, it is evident that respondents rated the tax burden factor (the tax structure and taxation process) the most problematic. This finding corresponds with Doing Business’ 2019 survey results. A section of this paper is devoted to the fiscal aspect of doing business: tax regulations and the overall tax burden and taxation procedures. It shows that the magnitude of the fiscal burden, the complexity of tax regulations and the inconsistency and complexity of the taxation system are a significant burden on small and medium-sized enterprises. The paper concludes with recommendations for more efficient and simpler tax regulation.