HOK Requests Postponement of the Implementation of the Fiscalization Law

HOK has requested a postponement of the implementation of the Fiscalization Law for cash transactions for all fiscalization obligors until July 1, 2013, to allow sufficient time for adjustment, and has also warned of the high costs of introducing and maintaining fiscal cash registers, as well as the high penalties.

The Croatian Parliament adopted the Fiscalization Law for cash transactions on November 23, which also defined the effective dates for specific categories – from January 1, 2013, for large and medium-sized entrepreneurs and obligors from the accommodation services and food preparation and serving sectors; from April 1 for wholesale and retail trade activities and liberal professions; and from July 1 for all fiscalization obligors. HOK President Dragutin Ranogajec expressed concern that craftsmen will face high costs for the introduction of fiscal cash registers, unavoidable extraordinary costs for upgrades and subsequent repairs of devices and software, under the threat of fines up to 500,000 kuna. In some countries, the state participated in the costs of introducing fiscal cash registers, and HOK advocates for such a model and calls on the Ministry of Finance and the Tax Administration for understanding during initial inspections when implementing the Law. —More education and less repression is the right path that will yield results, as craftsmen at all levels, not just in tourism and hospitality, are interested in achieving high quality and competitiveness in business-, they believe in HOK.

Additionally, HOK opposes the manner in which the criteria for including business premises on the List of Business Premises to be sold have been prescribed.

The objection relates to Article 2, paragraph 2 of the Draft Proposal of the Regulation on the Sale and Purchase of Business Premises Owned by the Republic of Croatia, which stipulates that the Agency for Management of State Property primarily includes business premises on the List of Business Premises whose maintenance is irrational and economically unjustifiable from the standpoint of the Republic of Croatia.

HOK believes that such a restrictive discretionary power, which the Regulation grants to the Agency in terms of selecting premises intended for sale, calls into question the purpose and meaning of the Law itself.

Namely, the Law on Leasing and Sale of Business Premises was adopted as an economic incentive measure to enable current tenants of business premises owned by the Republic of Croatia, who are in long-term leases of those premises and who continuously operate in those premises and regularly settle rent and all public dues arising from their business, to purchase those premises as an additional motivation to continue working in the space. Additionally, one of the essential reasons for adopting the Law is the privatization of business premises owned by the Republic of Croatia in which craftsmen and small entrepreneurs have been conducting their activities for years.

However, according to such extremely restrictive and demotivating criteria, the Regulation is in direct collision with the purpose and intention of the Law, they believe in HOK.

To avoid collision and to fulfill the purpose of the Law, HOK proposes that only those premises of special interest to the Republic of Croatia (premises necessary for the performance of state administration, health, education, culture, etc.) be excluded from sale.

HOK proposes that Article 2, paragraph 2 of the Draft Regulation be amended to read:
‘The List of Business Premises owned by the Republic of Croatia that will be subject to sale is compiled by the Agency and primarily includes business premises for which the Republic of Croatia has no special interest (premises necessary for the performance of state administration, health, education, culture, etc.), as well as those that are co-owned by the state.’

The statement regarding the Draft Proposal of the Regulation on the Sale and Purchase of Business Premises Owned by the Republic of Croatia has been sent to the Ministry of Justice and all parliamentary clubs in the Croatian Parliament.