Post by Peter Ellis on Apr 11, 2017 12:47:04 GMT 1
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www.total-croatia-news.com
Residents of Našice and Daruvar are the first in Croatia who have received a request to provide to local authorities information about properties they own. Similar forms will be sent by the end of the year to home addresses of other property owners, because towns and municipalities have started with preparation for the introduction of property tax. The tax will be introduced starting on 1 January 2018, reports Večernji List on March 23, 2017.
So far, the first 400 local government employees who will work on the implementation of the law and calculation of tax liabilities have passed training sessions, and town and municipal offices are receiving additional data on the basis of which local governments must update their existing registers of real estate on their territory. State Geodetic Administration has already delivered them orthophoto imagery, which will be used to determine properties to be taxed.At the time of the adoption of the law, the government stressed that the property tax would be a transformation of the current utility fee, which annually amounts to about 2.1 billion kuna.
In addition to utility fee, the property tax will also integrate tax on holiday homes and monument annuity. Finance Ministry estimates that the consolidated tax will bring local governments about 2.4 billion kuna, or 300 million more than they collect now. It claims that the majority of citizens will not feel any difference, but the exact numbers will not be known until March 2018, when first tax rulings will be sent to property owners. The current utility fee will be the basis for calculation, but it will be amended with new elements that will take into account age and quality of the property. In the forms which have been delivered to residents of Našice and Daruvar, the citizens are asked whether their houses or apartments are habitable, whether they have a pool, when they were built, whether they have been expanded... Property owners must fill out the form. In cases where data supplied by the owners is different from data from public sources, additional controls will be performed.
The annual amount of tax per square metre will be determined by multiplying the value of the basic value with zone coefficient, purpose coefficient, condition coefficient and age coefficient. Although details will be determined by each town and municipality, it is known that primary apartments will have the coefficient of 1, for holiday homes the coefficient will be up to 6, and for properties which currently pay monument annuity up to 12. Buildings constructed prior to 1940 will have coefficient of 0.8, while those built after 2006 will pay the coefficient of 1.2. It is estimated that taxes on buildings built before 1940 should be cheaper than the current utility fee, for properties built from 1971 to 1987 should be the same, while for all buildings constructed after 1988 the new tax will be higher. The exact amounts will be known next year. Association of Towns points out that it is up to local government units to decide whether the tax will be paid annually, semi-annually, quarterly, or monthly.
Minister of State Property Goran Marić and Finance Minister Zdravko Marić commented on the introduction of the property tax in Croatia, which is supposed to enter into force on 1 January. They said that the tax would not be a new burden for citizens and local self-government units, and that there is enough time for preparations prior to its introduction, reports Večernji List on March 29, 2017. Asked by journalists how the property tax would impact citizens and local government units, Minister Goran Marić said that the recent session of the Association of Towns discussed the issues of financing of local government bodies and management of state assets. He added that any tax which would increase the existing tax burden would not be acceptable and that property tax can only be a replacement for the existing fees.
“If this is a replacement for the current utility fee, as this type of tax is now called, or a substitute for the tax on holiday homes, in other words if there is no additional tax burden, then it is an acceptable tax for local government units as well, since it will not affect their revenues and will also not be additional burden for citizens”, said Goran Marić. “It is absolutely impossible for the property tax to be introduced if utility fee is not discontinued. That would be unacceptable and that will certainly not happen”, he said.
Asked by reporters about the main benefits of the property tax, Finance Minister Zdravko Marić pointed out that the legislative proposal introducing the tax passed two readings in Parliament. “We have said that the utility fee, tax on holiday homes, and monument annuity would be consolidated into the single property tax, which will be introduced on 1 January 2018. This year will be used for adjustment to the new law, and that is precisely what we are doing”, said Zdravko Marić.
He added out that towns and municipalities are preparing for the introduction of the property tax, and that they have at their disposal the Tax Administration, the State Geodetic Administration, and the Ministry of Construction. “We believe that we have enough time, because, since the introduction of the value-added tax in 1997, there has never been a full year left for adjustment”, said Zdravko Marić.
He denied that local elections, which will be held in May, could slow down the preparation process, explaining that all deadlines have so far been met. “By 31 March, all local government units will receive all registries from the government institutions, Tax Administration, Geodetic Administration and the Ministry of Construction. Then towns and municipalities will have eight months to prepare, adapt and check the registries. Before we start sending tax notices to citizens next year, we will make a final check to once again be certain that everything is ready”, said the Finance Minister.
www.total-croatia-news.com
Residents of Našice and Daruvar are the first in Croatia who have received a request to provide to local authorities information about properties they own. Similar forms will be sent by the end of the year to home addresses of other property owners, because towns and municipalities have started with preparation for the introduction of property tax. The tax will be introduced starting on 1 January 2018, reports Večernji List on March 23, 2017.
So far, the first 400 local government employees who will work on the implementation of the law and calculation of tax liabilities have passed training sessions, and town and municipal offices are receiving additional data on the basis of which local governments must update their existing registers of real estate on their territory. State Geodetic Administration has already delivered them orthophoto imagery, which will be used to determine properties to be taxed.At the time of the adoption of the law, the government stressed that the property tax would be a transformation of the current utility fee, which annually amounts to about 2.1 billion kuna.
In addition to utility fee, the property tax will also integrate tax on holiday homes and monument annuity. Finance Ministry estimates that the consolidated tax will bring local governments about 2.4 billion kuna, or 300 million more than they collect now. It claims that the majority of citizens will not feel any difference, but the exact numbers will not be known until March 2018, when first tax rulings will be sent to property owners. The current utility fee will be the basis for calculation, but it will be amended with new elements that will take into account age and quality of the property. In the forms which have been delivered to residents of Našice and Daruvar, the citizens are asked whether their houses or apartments are habitable, whether they have a pool, when they were built, whether they have been expanded... Property owners must fill out the form. In cases where data supplied by the owners is different from data from public sources, additional controls will be performed.
The annual amount of tax per square metre will be determined by multiplying the value of the basic value with zone coefficient, purpose coefficient, condition coefficient and age coefficient. Although details will be determined by each town and municipality, it is known that primary apartments will have the coefficient of 1, for holiday homes the coefficient will be up to 6, and for properties which currently pay monument annuity up to 12. Buildings constructed prior to 1940 will have coefficient of 0.8, while those built after 2006 will pay the coefficient of 1.2. It is estimated that taxes on buildings built before 1940 should be cheaper than the current utility fee, for properties built from 1971 to 1987 should be the same, while for all buildings constructed after 1988 the new tax will be higher. The exact amounts will be known next year. Association of Towns points out that it is up to local government units to decide whether the tax will be paid annually, semi-annually, quarterly, or monthly.
Minister of State Property Goran Marić and Finance Minister Zdravko Marić commented on the introduction of the property tax in Croatia, which is supposed to enter into force on 1 January. They said that the tax would not be a new burden for citizens and local self-government units, and that there is enough time for preparations prior to its introduction, reports Večernji List on March 29, 2017. Asked by journalists how the property tax would impact citizens and local government units, Minister Goran Marić said that the recent session of the Association of Towns discussed the issues of financing of local government bodies and management of state assets. He added that any tax which would increase the existing tax burden would not be acceptable and that property tax can only be a replacement for the existing fees.
“If this is a replacement for the current utility fee, as this type of tax is now called, or a substitute for the tax on holiday homes, in other words if there is no additional tax burden, then it is an acceptable tax for local government units as well, since it will not affect their revenues and will also not be additional burden for citizens”, said Goran Marić. “It is absolutely impossible for the property tax to be introduced if utility fee is not discontinued. That would be unacceptable and that will certainly not happen”, he said.
Asked by reporters about the main benefits of the property tax, Finance Minister Zdravko Marić pointed out that the legislative proposal introducing the tax passed two readings in Parliament. “We have said that the utility fee, tax on holiday homes, and monument annuity would be consolidated into the single property tax, which will be introduced on 1 January 2018. This year will be used for adjustment to the new law, and that is precisely what we are doing”, said Zdravko Marić.
He added out that towns and municipalities are preparing for the introduction of the property tax, and that they have at their disposal the Tax Administration, the State Geodetic Administration, and the Ministry of Construction. “We believe that we have enough time, because, since the introduction of the value-added tax in 1997, there has never been a full year left for adjustment”, said Zdravko Marić.
He denied that local elections, which will be held in May, could slow down the preparation process, explaining that all deadlines have so far been met. “By 31 March, all local government units will receive all registries from the government institutions, Tax Administration, Geodetic Administration and the Ministry of Construction. Then towns and municipalities will have eight months to prepare, adapt and check the registries. Before we start sending tax notices to citizens next year, we will make a final check to once again be certain that everything is ready”, said the Finance Minister.