Tax officials suggested to a journalist that she register as a ‘Šuker journalist’, and then fabricated a tax debt for her. They should not be trusted and must be checked, even when they offer you privileges.
writes Ivica Grčar
[email protected]
A colleague journalist from Split contacted me regarding issues with the tax officials. She is registered for tax purposes as a ‘Šuker journalist’ and pays income tax by deduction. Two years ago, she contracted a business collaboration with a media outlet and wanted to register in the Taxpayer Register as a freelance journalist. However, the Tax Administration in Split explained to her that she cannot register in the Taxpayer Register as a freelance journalist during the year, but can only announce at the end of the current year that she will register at the beginning of the next year. Namely, according to tax regulations, it is not allowed to change the method of taxation during the year (to switch from dependent work to self-employment).
‘Šuker Journalists’ It did not help at all to explain to the tax officials that this legal provision is absurd, as it is like someone finally getting a job in May, and the authorities prohibiting it until January 1 of the following year. However, ‘helpful’ tax officials found a way to ‘assist’ the colleague by suggesting that since she cannot register as a real freelance journalist, she should register as a ‘Šuker journalist’. ‘Šuker journalists’, unlike real ones, are in a more favorable position because they can also secure pension and health insurance during the year. The downside of the ‘Šuker journalists’ registration model is that they ‘register’ outside professional rules and the journalistic code, solely based on confirmations from the Ministry of Finance!?
Covering Up Crime
Avoiding Audit of the Convicted Tax Official
Zdravko Markač, ‘my’ tax officer, has been convicted in absentia by the Zagreb County Court to four years in prison for accepting bribes and for the confiscation of illegally obtained 3.6 million kuna. I declare that I did not bribe Markač and that I am pursuing a case in the Constitutional Court because I have been charged double for contributions for three consecutive years.
In my opinion, Markač trained his strictness on a larger number of smaller taxpayers from whom he could not receive bribes, in order to cover up the lesser collected tax from larger taxpayers from whom he did receive bribes. A tourist agency owner told me that at one point he had overpaid taxes of as much as 82 thousand kuna, and that Markač allegedly promised to sign a quick refund of the overpaid tax if he paid for skiing. And all this has not been sufficient reason for the Tax Administration to conduct an audit so far.
According to the latest data from HZMO that I have, there are about 70 ‘Šuker journalists’. It is evident that a certain number of real journalists are included among them to cover those whose actual goal is not journalism, but who find it more convenient to misrepresent themselves as journalists when gathering information, for example, to various intelligence officers. Therefore, I recommend to readers to verify the individuals who present themselves as journalists. This can be easily checked by calling the editorial offices of the media for which the journalists supposedly work (there are no ‘Šuker journalists’ falsely presenting themselves as journalists in the editorial offices).
Debt for Paid Tax The colleague lost her patience after she received a notification from the Split Tax Administration a few days ago that ‘an inspection of the information system has recorded’ that she has a debt of 1,699.76 kuna, due to which the amount of overpaid tax and surtax of 12,239.05 kuna according to the annual declaration for 2008 ‘will not be executed in accordance with Article 113, paragraph 6, and Article 115 of the General Tax Law. However, the colleague says that she has regularly settled her tax obligations via e-banking at PBZ in Split, and that she has confirmations about it. And on the disputed notification, the signature is illegible, so it cannot be determined which tax official wrote it. Furthermore, the notification does not specify which month the disputed debt arose, but lists three amounts of alleged debt from 2008. However, the amounts of these three alleged debts correspond to the amounts of contributions for 2009, not for 2008. Tax officials should not be trusted and must be checked, even when they offer you privileges.
We invite entrepreneurs to present their problems. Following your writings, by pointing out the absurdities in individual cases, we will highlight the shortcomings of the system as a whole and thus support the readers of Lider as individuals in their unequal disputes with the cumbersome state administration. Contact:
e-mail: [email protected]
tel. 01/6333-524
address: Ivica Grčar, Lider,
Savska 41, 10144 Zagreb
