ZAGREB, 27 April 2022 - Income tax refunds for 2021 will be paid as of 2 May and 664,000 citizens will receive HRK 1.7 billion in total, while 91,000 citizens have to pay HRK 316 million into the state budget in due taxes, Finance Minister Zdravko Marić said on Wednesday.

Speaking to the press, he said 146,000 of those eligible for a refund were young people and that they would receive HRK 640 million in total.

Marić said the 7.8% inflation the government forecast for this year was the highest in Croatia's recent history.

Earlier today, the government adopted Croatia's convergence programme for 2023-25, which will be sent to Brussels for assessment and is relevant for Croatia's euro area accession.

Marić expects certain information and reports in late May or early Junefrom the European Commission and the European Central Bank, to be followed by the testing of the Maastricht criteria.

He said the inflation growth was not expected to threaten Croatia's accession to the euro area.

Asked if there would be additional anti-inflation measures, Marić said the government was monitoring developments and that action would be taken if necessary and in line with possibilities.

He called on all other actors to stand united so that the slashed VAT rates could have the desired effects in terms of more favourable prices for citizens.

Marić said the current inflationary pressures were much higher than those which might occur with the introduction of the euro. For seven countries which introduced the euro, the effect on inflation was 0.2 to 0.4 percentage points in the first year and it was a one-time effect, he added.

Marić said such increases should not be ignored, so before and after the euro was introduced, prices would be shown in both currencies for a while so that they were not raised without justification.

Asked if the budget deficit forecast for this year, of HRK 13.36 billion or 2.8% of GDP, included additional funds for debts in the health sector, he said some funds would be ensured for that in a budget revision.

He said the revision had not been drawn up yet and that it could be passed in mid-May.

The minister said representatives of drug wholesalers regularly informed him and the minister of health about the debts. "Unfortunately, these debts keep increasing," he said, adding that the health minister and his associates are working on a health reform expected to curb the constant debt growth.

Marić also commented on a Finance Ministry bill that would allow the State Prosecutor's Office, the police, and the customs and tax authorities to access corporate and citizens' bank accounts.

According to the ministry, the bill incorporates the latest EU directive against money laundering, tax evasion and other forms of financial crime.

Marić said that, under the bill, the State Prosecutor's Office and the Interior Ministry first and foremost would have access to the accounts register run by the Financial Agency.

That does not mean they will have access to the amount in the account or transactions, only to basic personal information on the holder, he added, dismissing media claims that the law would give every clerk access to anyone's account.

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ZAGREB, 27 July, 2021 - Finance Minister Zdravko Marić on Tuesday did not accept proposals for a lower VAT rate on beverages and to treat labour costs as a tax deduction, while a representative of restaurant and bar owners said they would have to fend for themselves the best way they can regarding future challenges.

"My message to all restaurant and bar owners in the country, notably those who run bars, is that a very demanding period is ahead of us and that they will have to seek new loans and funding, despite the fact that we had yet another constructive meeting with the finance minister today. We can hope that in a couple of years we will have better working conditions because now that is not the case and we have not come across any understanding in regard to our proposals," Jelena Tabak, who heads the NUU association of restaurateurs, said after the meeting.

Marić recalled that a lower VAT rate was already in place in the tourism sector for accommodation, food and for the serving of food and that beverages were the only products for which VAT had not been reduced.

Commenting on the proposal to exclude labour costs from the base amount for the calculation of the VAT rate in the hospitality sector, the minister said that neither Croatia's nor the EU's tax systems recognised such a measure.

"In terms of taxation, labour costs are indeed recognised costs but in systems in which they should be recognised - the income and profit tax systems. We cannot mix direct taxes with indirect taxes such as VAT," he explained.

Marić recalled the government's measures to help the business sector, from lower taxes to the cancellation of individual contributions, as well as expanding the scope of nontaxable income, which, he said, had resulted in a rise in employment and wages, as evidenced by statistical data.

He recalled the government's job-keeping measures and coverage of fixed costs in the hospitality sector, stressing that data on fiscalisation showed that the hospitality sector had solid results and that the real peak of the tourist season was yet to come.

Dražen Biljan of the bar owners' association of the NUU Zagreb branch said that they were not happy that their proposals were not accepted and that lowering VAT on drinks would not cost the state too much, around HRK 400 million. It would, however, mean a lot for restaurant and bar owners, he said.

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ZAGREB, 10 June 2021 - The Croatian ministry of tourism and sport has adopted three ordinances about the reduced tax burden and tax exemption, which would enable businesses in the tourist trade to have 118 million more kuna at their disposal.

The changed regulations about the exemption from payment of some of the accommodation surcharge lump sum and membership fees for the local tourist boards were published in the Official Gazette on Thursday.

Minister Nikolina Brnjac says in a press release that she is sure that this tax relief in the amount of 118 million kuna "will definitely facilitate the efforts of hotels, campsites, private accommodation renters, family farms, and nautical tourism companies to do business more easily" and also help them to alleviate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

(€1 = HRK 7.5)

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