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Factsheet for measure HR-2020-12/288 Updated – measures in Croatia

Deferral and/or instalment payment of tax liabilities

Odgoda i/ili obročna otplata poreznih obveza

Country Croatia , applies nationwide
Time period Open ended, started on 19 March 2020
Context COVID-19
Type Legislations or other statutory regulations
Category Supporting businesses to stay afloat
– Deferral of payments or liabilities
Author Predrag Bejakovic (IJF)
Measure added 06 April 2020 (updated 28 October 2021)

Background information

In late November 2019 the Croatian Parliament passed a series of laws amending Croatian tax legislation. The new laws, in the most part, came into effect on 1 January 2020. Due to corona virus pandemic The General Tax Act has been amended (OG 32/2020) introducing an article related to "Payment of taxes in special circumstances as follows: Article 107a

  1. "Special circumstances" means an event or a condition which could not be predicted and could not be affected, which endangers the life and health of citizens, property of greater value, significantly damages the environment, disrupts economic activity or causes significant economic damage.
  2. If the special circumstances referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article affect the ability to settle tax liabilities, the maturity of tax liabilities incurred and / or due in accordance with special regulations may be deferred and / or their installment repayment may be authorized.
  3. No interest shall be accrued for the duration of the deferred payment and installment payments referred to in paragraph 2 of this Article.

The conditions, criteria and procedures for using this legal option are stipulated by Ordinance amending the Ordinance on the implementation of the General Tax Law (OG 35/2020) which entered into force on 23 March 2020.

Content of measure

Entrepreneurs affected by the coronavirus epidemic can file a tax deferral claim, provided that:

  1. he or she does not have outstanding tax liabilities recorded in the Tax Administration higher than HRK 200 and
  2. he or she fulfills one of the following conditions:

  3. has recorded a decrease in income/receipts in the month preceding the month of the Request submission by at least 20% compared to the same month of the previous year, or

  4. if he/she can prove that his/her income/receipts will likely decrease by at least 20% over the same period of the previous year, starting with the month of the submission of the Request.

Exceptionally, a tax deferral claim can also be submitted by entrepreneurs who, in 2019, have not achieved the value of supplies of goods and services in excess of HRK 7,500,000,000 (€1 million) in the previous year, and which determines the tax base according to deliveries made and in accordance with a special regulation on value added tax. See case 289 of the COVID-19 EU PolicyWatch database .

Deferred (delayed) tax liabilities relate to personal income tax and social contributions, contributions for compulsory insurance of self-employment, social contributions for persons on professional training without commencing employment, contributions and taxes on additional income (drugi dohodak), advance payment of personal income tax liabilities, advance payment of personal income tax liabilities from self-employment, advance payment on company and other tax liabilities due upon filing the Request, other than customs duties and excise duties.

Updates

The following updates to this measure have been made after it came into effect.

13 March 2021

The Tax administration introduced the Request for delay of repayment of unpaid reprogrammed tax liabilities. It is according to the Ordinance amending the Ordinance on the implementation of the General Tax Act (OG 26/21), which entered into force on 13 March 2021. The mentioned document extended the deadline for submitting the Income Tax Return and the accompanying forms and reports. For the tax period starting from 1 January 2020 or during the calendar year 2020, the said forms shall be submitted to the Tax Administration no later than 30 June 2021. Unfortunately, the number of users and financial consequences of the measure are not publicly known or officially published.

01 October 2020

Amendments to the General Tax Act Implementing Regulations (Amendments) were published in the Official Gazette of 23 March 2020, and enter into force on 24 March 2020, enabling implementation of COVID-19 tax measures to support the economy. Taxes in scope are Personal Income Tax, Corporate Income Tax, VAT (under certain conditions stated below) and other taxes such as Real Estate Transfer Tax, Tax on Slot Machine Games, etc.; Social security contributions; other public charges (fees, concession fees, fines for tax offenses and any charges that are determined and / or collected and/or supervised under special regulations within the jurisdiction of the tax authority. Exception are customs duty and excise duty fall out of scope of this measure, i.e. the settlement may not be deferred under the Amendments. A deferral request can be filled electronically, in ePorezna system (eTax administration). Tax Administration provides another way of filing the request for taxpayers that do not use the ePorezna system, details are published on the Tax Administration web site. Particularly praiseworthy is the page with many questions and answers regarding the eligibility, terms and conditions for deferral payment, available on the Internet page of the Tay Administration. The number of users for deferral payment is not yet publicly available.

Use of measure

Not yet known at this stage.

Target groups

Workers Businesses Citizens
Does not apply to workers Applies to all businesses Does not apply to citizens

Actors and funding

Actors Funding
National government
No special funding required

Social partners

Social partners' role in designing the measure and form of involvement:

Trade unions Employers' organisations
Role No involvement No involvement
Form Not applicable Not applicable

Social partners' role in the implementation, monitoring and assessment phase:

  • No involvement
  • Main level of involvement: Unknown

Involvement

Due to the nature of the measure social partners were not involved.

Views and reactions

As mentioned, due to the nature of the measure social partners were not involved. However, social partners always support measures that help the citizens and workers, like this measure for deferral payment of taxes and social contributions.

Sources

  • 19 March 2020: Hrvatski sabor (Parliament of the Republic of Croatia) (2020) Zakon o do puni Općeg poreznog zakona -– OG 32/20 (narodne-novine.nn.hr)
  • 19 March 2020: Hrvatski sabor (Parliament of the Republic of Croatia) (2020) Pravilnik o dopunama Pravilnika o provedbi Općeg poreznog zakona -– OG 35/20 (narodne-novine.nn.hr)
  • 16 September 2020: Najčešće postavljana pitanja zbog izvanrednog stanja izazvanog širenjem virusa COVID-19 (www.porezna-uprava.hr)
  • 03 March 2021: Pravilnik o dopunama pravilnika Općeg poreznog zakona (Ordinance on the implementation of the General Tax Act - OG 26/21) (narodne-novine.nn.hr)
  • 07 April 2021: Zahtjev za pocek otplate neplacenih reprogramiranih obveza (The request for delay of repayment of unpaid reprogrammed tax liabilities) (www.porezna-uprava.hr)

Citation

Eurofound (2020), Deferral and/or instalment payment of tax liabilities, measure HR-2020-12/288 (measures in Croatia), EU PolicyWatch, Dublin, https://static.eurofound.europa.eu/covid19db/cases/HR-2020-12_288.html

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