Cheaper Official Travel Without Health Contribution

With the amendments to the Regulation on Contributions effective from July 1, 2013, the obligation to pay contributions intended for the use of health care abroad has been abolished for Croatian insured persons traveling to EU member states for the purpose of residence, work, or official travel.

The regulation introduces new terms: ‘member states’, which refers to the member states of the European Union as well as Switzerland, Norway, Iceland, and Liechtenstein, and the term ‘foreign countries’, which refers to all other countries. Namely, according to EU directives and regulations, the coordination of social security systems is carried out in a single labor market that is broader than the EU space and includes Switzerland and the countries of the European Economic Area that are linked to the EU by special agreements. Croatia’s accession to EU membership resulted in the right of Croatian citizens to access emergency medical assistance in member states under the same conditions as the citizens of those states. This right is exercised based on the European Health Insurance Card or based on the appropriate certificate from the Croatian Health Insurance Fund, which must be obtained before traveling to the mentioned destinations. The European Health Insurance Card is issued free of charge to Croatian insured persons by HZZO upon personal request, and the card is valid for one year.
In the case of official travel, residence for the purpose of education, work, or private business in EU member states, Croatian insured persons no longer pay a special contribution for health care abroad as of July 1, 2013.

Combined Travel For official travel and residence in countries that are not EU member states (foreign countries), a special contribution for health care abroad continues to be calculated and paid. When it comes to related official travels to multiple countries that include both member states and foreign countries, the contribution is calculated and paid only for the calendar days spent in countries that are considered foreign under the contribution regulations. For example, if a worker from Zagreb is sent on an official trip to Skopje, then from Skopje to Athens, from Athens to Belgrade, and then back to Zagreb, for the correct calculation of the contribution for the use of health care abroad, the days spent on official travel in Macedonia and Serbia must be determined, and a special contribution must be calculated and paid for those days. Therefore, some entrepreneurs may need to establish and maintain special records of the calendar days spent on official travels that encompass multiple countries, some of which are part of the EU, while others are considered foreign under the contribution regulations.

Calculating the Base The rules for determining the base for calculating and paying contributions for health care abroad, the contribution rate, and the reporting method have not changed. For each day spent abroad, the contribution is calculated based on the daily amount of the lowest monthly base, which for 2013 is calculated by dividing 2753.45 HRK by the number of days in the month in which the travel took place. 

For example, for each day spent on an official trip in September 2013, the base for calculating the contribution amounts to 91.78 HRK (2753.45 HRK : 30 days). If a person spent five calendar days abroad, the special health contribution should be calculated on the base amount of 458.91 HRK (91.78 x five days). The contribution rate is 20%. The payment obligation is due on the 15th of the month for official travels carried out in the previous month. In the described example, for the official trip in September, the contribution must be paid by October 15, and the ID form for October, on which the employer reports to the Tax Administration the paid amount of the contribution, must be submitted by November 15, 2013.

Posted Workers Posted workers are those workers whom an employer from Croatia has sent to work in another country for a limited period, and they remain socially insured in Croatia as their home country during that period. The reverse is also true; there are also workers who have been sent by a foreign employer to work in Croatia for a certain period, and they are not insured in Croatia during that time but remain insured by the social security system of their home country. When it comes to posted workers whom an employer from Croatia sends to work in another country, we distinguish three groups of countries based on the obligation to pay a special contribution for health care abroad: EU member states, countries that are not EU member states but with which Croatia applies a bilateral agreement on social security, and other countries with which Croatia has not concluded a social security agreement.

In the case where a Croatian worker is sent by a domestic employer to work in another EU member state, the Croatian employer does not pay a special contribution for health care abroad for the worker as of July 1, 2013. This also applies to workers who were posted based on bilateral agreements before Croatia’s accession to EU membership, and the duration of posting extends beyond July 1, 2013.

Bilateral Agreements For workers who are posted to work in countries that are not part of the EU, but with which Croatia applies bilateral agreements on social security (Serbia, Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Canada, Australia, and Turkey), a special contribution for health care abroad must still be paid. In this case, this contribution is not calculated on the same base and at the same rate as for foreign official travels. The base for calculating the contribution is the monthly salary that the worker would be entitled to if working in Croatia, increased by 20 percent. The contribution rate is 10 percent, and the obligation is due upon payment of the salary, or no later than the last day of the month for the previous month. 

In the case of sending workers for work, education, or other reasons to countries that are not EU member states and with which Croatia does not apply bilateral agreements on social security, a special contribution for health care abroad must also be calculated and paid (e.g., for the USA, Brazil, Russia, etc.). The base and contribution rate depend on the length of stay abroad. For this group of countries, it is also possible to obtain an exemption from the obligation to pay a special contribution. Namely, if the worker is provided with health care in some other way during their stay abroad, the employer can request an exemption from the obligation to pay a special contribution for health care abroad from HZZO, which decides on the matter by resolution.