Montenegro is preparing a broader digital tax-reporting system that would introduce electronic invoicing and delivery notes while giving the Tax Administration greater capacity to analyse transaction data and identify compliance risks. Tax Administration Director said the authority plans to launch a tender for an electronic-invoicing system by the end of 2026, alongside further development of e-delivery notes, central registers of goods and services and automated tax-risk analysis.
The systems have not yet been fully implemented. The reform is intended to connect information already collected through electronic fiscalisation with the Integrated Revenue Management System (IRMS), enabling authorities to identify discrepancies and rank taxpayers according to compliance risk.
The integrated approach could allow the Tax Administration to compare sales, purchases, VAT patterns, invoices, delivery documents, inventories and tax declarations across supply chains. Electronic invoicing would transmit transaction information in a standardised format, allowing declared revenue and purchases to be cross-checked between sellers and buyers. This could reduce mismatched declarations and make fraudulent invoice chains more difficult to sustain. The precise legal and technical design remains under preparation. The planned tender will determine the platform’s scope, initial taxpayer coverage and whether implementation is phased. Larger companies may already have enterprise resource planning systems capable of producing structured electronic documents, while smaller businesses could need changes to accounting software, internal procedures and cooperation with bookkeepers.
Businesses will also require rules covering accepted formats, digital authentication, archiving, cancelled invoices and corrections. Automated reconciliation could nevertheless reduce manual data entry and accounting errors if systems are interoperable. Electronic delivery notes would allow authorities to compare physical goods movements with invoicing and fiscal records, particularly in wholesale trade, fuel, construction materials and food distribution.
A central register of goods and services would establish common classifications, making it easier to identify unusual pricing, volumes or tax treatment among taxpayers. Montenegro has already increased inspections covering hospitality, tourism, retail and employment activity during the summer season. Greater digital integration is intended to support year-round monitoring and direct inspections toward higher-risk cases.
The Tax Administration has also launched a separate tender for infrastructure supporting the automatic exchange of tax information with EU member states. The capacity is linked to Montenegro’s integration with European systems for VAT, income, financial accounts and cross-border tax cooperation. The broader objective is to reduce the grey economy, widen the effective tax base and limit tax leakage. Companies operating fully within the formal economy could benefit from more consistent enforcement if authorities can identify businesses avoiding tax or payroll obligations.
The effectiveness of automated risk analysis will depend on the completeness, standardisation and accuracy of the underlying data. Poor-quality information could generate false alerts and increase workloads for businesses and officials. The expansion of digital tax systems also increases the importance of cybersecurity and system resilience. E-invoicing platforms would contain detailed information on customers, suppliers, prices and commercial relationships, while outages could disrupt businesses if electronic reporting becomes mandatory.
The reform could also strengthen fiscal forecasting by giving the government more timely information on invoices and sales, allowing closer monitoring of VAT and other tax bases. Montenegro recorded relatively strong revenue growth through the first seven months of 2026, while continuing to face significant spending requirements linked to pensions, wages, infrastructure and EU accession.
The planned e-invoicing tender by the end of 2026 is the next major step. Until procurement is completed and the legal framework finalised, the precise scope and implementation timetable remain uncertain. The emerging system is designed to allow authorities to compare transactions across businesses and economic sectors rather than relying mainly on information reported at the end of an accounting period.
