14 February, 2022 - The opposition Homeland Movement's whip said on Monday the taxation of Croatian residents who work abroad "discloses the institutions' harsh treatment of their own citizens."

"When the state wants to be efficient, as in this case, things are handled quickly, but when citizens depend on public administration, for example in (post-earthquake) reconstruction, the state is absent," Stephen Bartulica told the press.

He said many Croatians abroad had been calling him these days to complain about the Tax Administration.

"Enough of such oppression of one's own people! They have done nothing wrong. Many of them pay taxes in the states they are in and now Croatia, because the rates here are somewhat higher, wants to collect the difference."

Bartulica said Croatia's policy offered incentives to expats to come back, while on the other hand the Tax Administration's policy was forcing some people to even consider giving up their Croatian citizenship.

Those people didn't leave Croatia to avoid paying taxes but to survive economically, he said, adding that the ruling HDZ party should reduce the influence of politics on people's lives. "Then perhaps... those people might come back."

Bartulica did not rule out that some citizens might be evading taxes and using health insurance in Croatia despite living abroad but reiterated that they left because of the situation in Croatia, the state was partially responsible for them leaving.

He also said the state was very late in presenting measures to reduce the inflationary blow to citizens, and that one of the reasons for the current inflation was the green revolution.

Bartulica would not say if he supported the Bridge party's interpellation on the government's work on consumer protection due to energy price hikes.

ZAGREB, October 10, 2020 - Croatia-US talks on an agreement on the avoidance of double taxation have started and Croatian exporters, notably those from the IT sector, are looking forward to them as the new measures will help them save up to 30% of their earnings, the Croatian Chamber of Commerce said on Saturday.

Dividends for tax non-residents are taxed at a rate of 30%, which causes significant problems for Croatian companies and makes them uncompetitive.

The lack of an agreement on double taxation avoidance makes business operations less transparent, and the very fact that Croatia is the only EU and NATO member that does not have such an agreement with the USA puts Croatian businesses at a disadvantage compared to businesses from other EU countries, the HGK says.

The head of the HGK group for the gaming industry and Pandora Studio company director, Andrej Levenski, said that all the more important platforms, from Steam, Google Play and Apple Store to Origin, are US companies, which means that they charge a 30% fee for commercial services.

He noted that the cancellation of double taxation would help Croatian gaming businesses save US $15-30 dollars per $100 of sales.