Government to publish list of employers who do not pay their workers

The government on Thursday proposed amendments to the Income Tax Act which will enable the publication of the names of employers who have not paid wages to their workers for three consecutive months and of the Tax Authority's decisions to tax citizens for the property they cannot justify with their income.

Explaining the bill, Finance Minister Slavko Linic said that the Tax Authority was comparing citizens' income and property.

Anyone who cannot justify their property with their income will be subject to additional taxation and the Tax Authority's decisions in that regard will be made public. That will clearly show who has paid their taxes and who has not, because there is talk of "a lot of big fish" not paying their taxes, the minister said.

The proposed amendments also addressed the issue of taxation of dividends. Linic said that the government stuck to its position that in a time of crisis, when people pay an increased Value Added Tax rate and the government has renounced a portion of reinvested profit tax, the tax on paid dividends should be 12 per cent.

As for pensioners who receive their pensions from any of the EU countries, the government proposed a simplified procedure under which the Tax Authority would exchange relevant information with the authorities in the EU countries, without pensioners having to collect necessary documents in those countries by themselves. Citizens of EU countries living in Croatia will have the same rights and obligations with regard to income taxation as citizens of Croatia.

The government also adopted a regulation amending the Tourist Tax Act and a regulation concerning foreign-owned yachts and boats visiting Croatia, ending the discrimination of EU citizens who have so far paid higher taxes.

(Hina)



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