Macedonia’s democratic economy is recovering after a short and minor crisis. Macedonia’s economic growth climbed to 2.2% last year. For 2018, the World Bank expects growth of 3.2% rising to 4% in 2020. Over the past 10 years, Macedonia has experienced little inflation; as a candidate member of the European Union, it experiences the joys but not the burdens.

Economic growth

Besides economic growth and GNI growth, there is also a marked growth in tourism of 4-10% per year; tourism has almost doubled in the last 10 years and this growth is expected to continue in the coming years. There are daily flights from various airports in the Netherlands and Belgium to the national airports of Skopje and Ohrid and the number of flights is increasing. The countries surrounding us are also planning direct flights to Ohrid.

Is now the time to buy a house in Macedonia

Besides a low property purchase price within Europe, Macedonia has the lowest housing costs and ancillary costs and the latter is not entirely unimportant. The attractive Lake Ohrid, with 2,300 hours of sunshine and its Mediterranean country climate is a World Heritage Area, where high-rise buildings for mass tourism are not allowed. Lakeside housing supply is scarce and because of this, the housing market in the Ohrid region, is now starting to pick up.

• In addition, a second home in Macedonia is also extremely attractive fiscally;
• You pay only 3% transfer tax.
• Property tax is 0.1%.
• You pay no tax after 60 months on a sale with a capital gain.
• Within 60 months, it is only 7.53% of the gain on sale.
• You can tick box 3 exemption for the value of your second home because the Netherlands and Macedonia have a bilateral tax treaty, which prevents double taxation. So you pay only 0.1% where you might otherwise owe capital gains tax on these assets, in the Netherlands.

Macedonia also has only one income and property tax rate for residents and companies: 10%, making it one of the countries with the lowest tax burden in the world. For business or private purposes, this may also be very interesting for you.

If you purchase a property above € 40,000, you can apply for residency for a year.

Renting out your 2nd home in Macedonia, can also be very attractive

The rental income is only taxed at 7.53%. The big tour operators are investing a lot in this area and are looking for luxurious new accommodation due to the increasing number of tourists. The area has Europe’s clearest and deepest lake, beautiful nature and ancient culture and is also called ‘’the pearl of the Balkans‘’. Known for its hospitality and friendliness, the Macedonian people have had close ties with Dutch and Belgian tourists since the 1960s, who are now rediscovering this fantastic area.