Buying property in Bosnia from Sweden: POA, money, tax

You can buy property in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) from Sweden without travelling, through someone in BiH to whom you give a certified punomoć (power of attorney). If you are a BiH citizen, you can have it certified at the BiH Embassy in Stockholm. If you are not, ask the embassy and the BiH notary which form of certification they accept before you sign anything. Send money only by bank transfer to the account named in the contract, and check with Skatteverket (the Swedish Tax Agency) what you will need to report in Sweden before you buy, not afterwards.

This is general information, not legal advice. A notary or lawyer in BiH confirms the details for your specific case, and Skatteverket confirms the Swedish side.

The process at a glance

1. Check ownership and any charges on the property through the ZK izvadak (land registry extract) before paying anything. See our guide to the land registry extract in Bosnia.
2. Choose your representative in BiH: a family member, a lawyer or another person you trust.
3. Send a draft power of attorney to the BiH notary who will prepare the contract and ask whether that wording and that type of certification work for them.
4. Have the power of attorney certified in Sweden and post the original to your representative.
5. Your representative signs the contract, and you pay by bank transfer on the terms set out in the contract.
6. The purchase is reported for tax in BiH and ownership is registered in the land registry.
7. Keep every document for any later reporting in Sweden.

For the full process, including viewings and checks, read Buying property in Bosnia from abroad: a step-by-step guide.

Power of attorney signed in Sweden

BiH citizens: certification at the BiH Embassy in Stockholm

The BiH Embassy in Stockholm certifies powers of attorney for BiH citizens. According to the embassy's website, you need:

• the original power of attorney, legibly written, which you sign at the embassy in front of an official
• a valid BiH passport or ID card, shown when you sign
• proof that the consular fee has been paid

You can pay the fee by card at the embassy, with a bank payment slip or by e-banking. If you use e-banking, bring a printed confirmation. The embassy's website has a power of attorney form to download in Word and PDF. Confirm the fee for a power of attorney directly with the embassy, as it differs from the fees for other services on their price list.

Embassy details:

• address: Birger Jarlsgatan 55/3, 111 45 Stockholm
• telephone: +46 (0)8 440 05 40
• email: amb.bih.sto@telia.com
• the consular section sees clients on working days from 10:00 to 15:00

The embassy also covers Finland and Estonia, so allow for possible waiting and call before you go.

If you do not hold BiH citizenship

The embassy describes this service only for BiH citizens. So your first step is to ask the embassy whether they will certify your power of attorney.

If they will not, one option is certification in Sweden. Since 1 January 2005, only a Notarius Publicus (or an assistant Notarius Publicus) can issue an apostille in Sweden; Swedish embassies cannot. Sweden is party to the 1961 Hague Apostille Convention. Whether a BiH notary or land registry office will accept a power of attorney certified this way, and whether it needs a translation by a court-certified translator in BiH, is something to confirm with the BiH notary before you pay for certification.

If you are buying as a foreign citizen, also check that you are eligible to acquire property at all. Our guide Can foreigners buy property in Bosnia? explains reciprocity and the exceptions.

What the power of attorney should contain

The BiH notary confirms the exact form and content required for property. In practice it helps to make it specific:

• your details and your representative's details (name, date of birth, document number, address)
• an exact description of the property: address, land registry folio number (broj zemljišnoknjižnog uloška) and plot number, floor area
• the powers granted: signing the predugovor (pre-contract) and the contract, filing the tax return, applying for registration, collecting decisions from the office
• whether your representative may receive or pay out money, and up to what amount
• the price or a maximum price

An overly general power of attorney can be a common cause of delay, because a notary or office is not obliged to accept it for a specific transaction. One that is too narrow, for example without authority to apply for land registry registration, means a new certification and another envelope from Sweden.

The contract: where it is signed

The required form of the sale contract is not equally clear across the country, and the sources disagree. BiH has two entities, the Federation of BiH (FBiH) and Republika Srpska (RS), plus Brčko District, and the rules can differ between them.

FBiH. In 2020 the FBiH Notary Chamber stated that a notarski obrađena isprava (a document drawn up by a notary) is the only valid form for purchases, gifts and other property transactions. On the other hand, some lawyers point out that the FBiH Constitutional Court struck down Article 73 of the FBiH Law on Notaries and that, according to a position of the FBiH Supreme Court, signatures on the contract can be certified either by a notary or by a court. A 2020 bill to amend the Law on Notaries confirms that Article 73 was declared unconstitutional, but it is not clear whether the amendments were adopted. In practice, sales often go through a notary.

Republika Srpska. Check the rules on the mandatory form of the contract with a notary or lawyer in RS.

Brčko District. According to lawyers' sources, Brčko District's Law on Notaries expressly allows lawyers to prepare documents and represent clients before a notary. Confirm this for your case as well.

For you in Sweden this means one thing: agree where and with whom the contract will be signed before you certify the power of attorney, and word the power of attorney accordingly.

Sending money from Sweden

The safest route is a bank transfer from your own account to the account named in the contract.

• Pay into the account of the person registered as owner in the land registry extract, or the account the contract expressly names.
• Do not pay until the notary or lawyer confirms the contract is ready and any charge on the property has been dealt with.
• In the payment reference, give the contract number or date and the property address.
• Keep your bank's confirmation of sending and the seller's confirmation of receipt.

Expect that a bank in Sweden or BiH, or the notary, may ask for proof of where the money comes from: payslips, a loan agreement, the sale of another asset or savings. Prepare these documents in advance so the payment is not held up on signing day.

Do not carry cash across the border. Moving larger amounts of cash across a border is, as a rule, subject to a declaration requirement. Check the thresholds and procedure with Tullverket (Swedish Customs) and the BiH Indirect Taxation Authority (UIO). Ask your bank about the rules for payments by non-residents and foreign-currency accounts in BiH.

If you pay part of the price as a kapara (deposit), put the amount and the conditions in a written pre-contract.

What to report in Sweden

Your Swedish tax obligations depend on whether you are taxable in Sweden and what you do with the property. We do not list forms or deadlines here, because they need to be confirmed on skatteverket.se or directly with Skatteverket. Before you buy, ask:

• whether rental income from a property in BiH must be declared in Sweden, and how tax paid in BiH is credited
• how a gain is declared if you later sell the property, and on which form
• whether the double taxation treaty between Sweden and the former Yugoslavia applies to BiH
• whether your bank reports larger payments abroad, and whether you would then need to show anything further

Whatever the answers, keep copies of the contract with its translation, proof of payment, the BiH tax decision, the land registry extract after registration and all cost receipts. You will need them for any later declaration or sale.

Costs to plan for

• the consular fee, or the Notarius Publicus and apostille costs in Sweden
• postage for sending the original to BiH
• a court translator's translation, if the notary asks for one
• the notary's fee, or a lawyer and court certification, depending on how the contract is signed
• tax on purchase: in FBiH the property transfer tax is set by the cantons, RS has a different system and Brčko District has its own rate
• the land registry registration fee

We track rates and amounts by entity and canton in Costs of buying property in Bosnia. Before signing, ask the notary for a written estimate of total costs.

Common mistakes

• A buyer without BiH citizenship has a power of attorney certified without first asking the embassy and the BiH notary which form of certification they accept.
• The power of attorney is certified before the exact property description is known and has to be redone.
• Money is sent to a third party's account, not the registered owner's.
• A deposit is paid without a written pre-contract.
• Cash is carried across the border without checking the declaration rules.
• Swedish tax questions are left for later, and proof of the source of funds or of tax paid in BiH is missing.

Example

Amra lives in Gothenburg and holds a BiH passport. She is interested in a two-room flat of 54 m² on the 2nd floor in Čengić Vila, Sarajevo, priced at 309,000 KM (convertible marks), which is about 5,722 KM per m². That is also the median asking price per m² across DMI's listings in Sarajevo, where prices range from 3,667 to 6,574 KM per m².

Amra first asks for the land registry extract and a video tour. Her brother in Sarajevo will act as her representative. A notary in Sarajevo sends her the preferred wording for the power of attorney with the flat's exact details. Amra books a time at the embassy in Stockholm, pays the fee by e-banking, brings the printed confirmation and signs in front of the official. She posts the original to her brother. At the same time she asks Skatteverket what she would need to declare if she rents the flat out. On signing day she transfers the price from her own account to the seller's account named in the contract and keeps the bank confirmation with the contract.

How DMI helps

DMI currently has 8 properties listed, all in Sarajevo. We visit every property in person and check the land registry, legalisation status and photos before publishing. For buyers abroad we offer video tours, so you can view a flat from Sweden before you certify a power of attorney. We also help coordinate with the notary and your representative so that the power of attorney, the contract and the payment match.