More than 3,000 craftsmen lose health coverage after contribution rules changed

More than 3,000 self-employed craftsmen have been left without continuous health insurance after a change in how social-contribution calculations are made, chamber officials and tradespeople say.

Since amendments to the Law on Mandatory Social Insurance Contributions took effect in July, the salary and contribution calculations (MPIN) for flat-rate taxpayers are prepared by the Public Revenue Office (PRO) and are now issued to the individual’s personal account rather than to the shop’s single tax number (EDB). That change means monthly payroll calculations arrive in the name of the employee, not under the shop’s tax identity.

Payments shifted to personal accounts, cashflow broken

Under the new practice, craftsmen must pay health and pension contributions, personal income tax and salary from their personal bank accounts instead of from the shop account that generates monthly business income. Several tradespeople report they cannot withdraw funds from the shop account because they have no legal basis to do so.

“There are funds in the shop's account, but there are none in my personal account because I used everything I had to pay contributions for these two months. And additionally, the payment I made on August 27 was not recorded institutionally and I had to pay for the doctor's check‑up privately,” one craftsman said.

Aneta Atanasovska, Executive Director of the Chamber of Crafts - Skopje, warned the reform has left many without liquidity at a time when they have loan obligations. “With these changes, craftsmen are forbidden to take a salary, and from the personal account they pay only contributions. The changes have brought a whole set of problems because people have taken loans and are obliged to banks to pay monthly instalments, and they have no income,” she said.

The Chamber says it has repeatedly alerted state institutions and met with Finance Minister Gordana Dimitrieska‑Kochoska to present craftsmen’s demands. Those include the option for a self‑employed person to pay contributions on a higher base upon personal request, restoring the ability to pay salary from the shop’s EDB, producing MPIN calculations for all flat‑rate craftsmen and ensuring uninterrupted recording of pension rights in the pension and health insurance fund (PIOM).

Officially, the PRO published a notice on July 13 announcing the law changes (Official Gazette no. 148/2026) and asked employers and accounting firms to update software for July MPIN filings. Temporary contribution rates apply for July–December 2026: 19.9% for mandatory pension and disability insurance, 7.5% for mandatory health insurance, 0.5% for additional contribution for workplace injury and occupational disease, and 0.1% for unemployment insurance. One of the amendments (Article 13) tasks the PRO with preparing MPIN calculations for self‑employed flat‑rate taxpayers while leaving the payment obligation with the individuals.

The Chamber says the Finance Minister assured that detected problems will be fixed as soon as possible. Meanwhile, tradespeople report cases in which system delays at the PRO led to an interruption of health coverage — on September 1 some lost coverage because payments were not registered in time.

Photo: press material from the event