Salary contributions
Contributions are charged differently in the two entities: in FBiH part is borne by the employee (from pay) and part by the employer (on pay); in RS everything is “gross-gross” and the employer pays nothing on top. The rates shown are those in force for 2026.
Social contributions (doprinosi) fund pensions, health cover and unemployment insurance, and they are deducted before income tax is even calculated. Both entities in Bosnia & Herzegovina levy a combined 31% on the employee side, but they arrive there through different lines — and, more importantly, they split the burden with the employer very differently. That split is the single biggest reason a headline “gross” means different things in FBiH and RS.
FBiH: split between employee (from pay) and employer (on pay)
In the Federation the employee carries 31% of gross, deducted straight from the salary (doprinosi iz plaće): pension and disability insurance (PIO/MIO), basic health insurance (zdravstveno), and unemployment insurance. On top of the gross, the employer separately pays a further 5% (doprinosi na plaću) — that money never leaves your salary, but it is part of what the job costs your employer.
| FBiH contribution | Rate |
|---|---|
| Employee — from pay | |
| Pension & disability (PIO/MIO) | 17% |
| Basic health insurance | 12,5% |
| Unemployment insurance | 1,5% |
| Employee total | 31% |
| Employer — on pay (on top of gross) | |
| Pension & disability (PIO/MIO) | 2,5% |
| Basic health insurance | 2% |
| Unemployment insurance | 0,5% |
| Employer total | 5% |
The employer rate was cut in 2025: a reform (Službene novine FBiH br. 33/25, in force from 1 July 2025) reduced the employer contribution from a higher pre-reform rate to 5%, easing the combined burden. The true “cost to employer” also carries a small extra layer of non-contribution levies (around one percent — the general water charge and the natural-disaster protection levy); the calculator flags this on the employer-cost row rather than folding it into your net.
RS: everything is “gross-gross”
Republika Srpska works differently. The full 31% is contained inside the gross salary itself (bruto-na-bruto) and the employer pays nothing extra on top. The lines are also arranged differently — RS carries a distinct child-protection contribution (dječija zaštita) that the Federation does not.
| RS contribution (gross-gross) | Rate |
|---|---|
| Pension & disability (PIO) | 18,5% |
| Health insurance | 10,2% |
| Child protection (dječija zaštita) | 1,7% |
| Unemployment insurance | 0,6% |
| Total (employee; employer adds nothing on top) | 31% |
RS additionally levies a Solidarity Fund charge (Fond solidarnosti) of 0,25% of net pay. It sits outside the standard net calculation, so the calculator surfaces it as an informational note rather than deducting it.
No upper ceiling
Neither entity caps the contribution base for ordinary employment: contributions are charged on the whole gross salary, however high, with no maximum. (A minimum base applies at the level of the statutory minimum wage.)
Where this leaves your net
Because the employee-side total is the same 31% in both entities, the contribution lines alone do not explain the difference in take-home pay — the personal allowance and the income-tax rate do. Read those together on the income-tax page, and see the whole two-system picture on the entities page. All rates here come from the FBiH and RS contribution laws (Zakon o doprinosima) as published in the entity gazettes; if a rule changed recently it may not be reflected here yet, and none of them has been through our final sign-off — the gazette text is the binding one.
The content of this page is being extended over time.