The new real estate tax that Croatia has just introduced aims to increase the offer of apartments on the market, encouraging the owners that empty properties finally activate.
However, the measure encountered a number of criticisms – from the method of calculation, through the inaccurate criteria, to warnings that the real problem is resolved in the wrong way. Profession says: no sustainable solution without building sustainable apartments
Croatia has introduced a new real estate tax, which is calculated on the basis of the area and data from official records. The Tax Administration uses registers such as communal compensation records, and citizens who meet certain conditions may submit an application for exemptions – especially those who use the apartment for permanent housing, but they do not have a reported residence, or whose immobility is damaged and unusable.
The official goal of the introduction of tax is to encourage the owner of empty apartments to rent them or sell them, in order to increase the offer in the market that has been suffering from the lack of apartments, especially in larger cities, investor me. The tax is seen as a tool of housing policies aimed at activating unused real estate.
However, market actors and tax experts warn of the unfairness and inefficiency of the measure. The key resignation is that the tax does not take into account the actual situation of apartments – so two properties of the same area, regardless of whether one is renovated and the other is ruined, they pay the same amount. Also, the burden of exception is on citizens, which many consider it bureaucratically demanding.
The profession says that the state should focus on the construction of accessible apartments, instead of taxing existing ones. It is considered that the larger housing would be, and not additional levies, was a long-term solution for housing problems in Croatia.
