Reduced VAT rate on daily newspapers to 5 or 10 percent

The reduction of the VAT rate on daily press, which mainly publishes original journalistic texts, to 5 percent, and a rate of 10 percent for other newspapers, concert tickets, and accommodation services in nautical tourism, as well as the payment of VAT upon collection rather than on invoiced products or services for craftsmen until the end of next year, are some of the novelties from the proposal of the new VAT law that the Government has sent to the Parliament from today’s session.

According to Finance Minister Slavko Linić, due to the difficult situation in which Croatian print media find themselves, it was decided to lower the VAT for daily press to 5 percent, but only for general informative press that contains at least 25,000 words of original journalistic texts.

For other daily newspapers, the VAT rate would be 10 percent, and such a reduced rate would also apply to cultural and artistic magazines, as well as concert tickets.

A reduced VAT rate of 10 percent would also apply to accommodation services in floating facilities, i.e., in nautical tourism.

Linić also stated that this legislative proposal, at the request of craftsmen, stipulates that until December 31, 2014, craftsmen will pay VAT based on collected amounts, and from January 1, 2015, based on issued invoices.

The Government today also accepted a series of legislative proposals related to aligning domestic legislation with EU legal acquis, such as the environmental protection law, which, according to the relevant minister Mihael Zmajlović, among other things, simplifies and shortens the procedure for obtaining an environmental permit and raises the quality of environmental impact studies.

All measures from this legislative proposal, Zmajlović said, aim to facilitate the position of investors, thereby improving the business climate in Croatia, while respecting the principles of environmental protection and sustainable development.

The laws on construction products, protection of market competition, the Croatian Register of Ships, as well as the laws on tax consultancy and foreign exchange operations are also being aligned with EU legal acquis.

The last two legislative proposals foresee that with the accession to the EU, in addition to the 29 existing Croatian tax consultants, advisors from other EU member states will also be able to engage in these services, and the obligation to report to the Customs Administration the transfer across the border of amounts exceeding 10,000 euros is also stipulated.

The proposed amendments to the law on electronic communications, among other things, introduce lower prices for services in electronic communications, i.e., mobile telephony based on the application of the Roaming Regulation in national legislation from the day Croatia joined the EU.

This price reduction, said Minister of Maritime Affairs, Transport and Infrastructure Siniša Hajdaš Dončić, will occur in two phases, from July 1 of this year and the same date in 2014, and these prices should be significantly lower.

As examples, he mentioned that phone calls that have so far been charged at a price of 6 to 11 kuna will cost 1.82 kuna from July 1 of this year, and 1.44 kuna from mid-next year, while, for example, short text messages (SMS), which today cost from 1.6 to 3.2 kuna, will drop to 0.67 kuna on July 1 of this year, and 0.45 kuna in the second half of 2014.

The proposal for a conclusion to grant authorization for accepting decisions at the General Assembly of INA was withdrawn from the agenda of today’s Government session, and without further explanation, Prime Minister Zoran Milanović only stated that the proposal was withdrawn at the request of Minister of Economy Ivan Vrdoljak for additional consultations.