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Summer is approaching, and with it the main tourist season, when a more active part of the year begins for accommodation providers. Alongside obligations related to arranging and preparing accommodation for the arrival of the first tourists, as well as efforts to achieve the best possible occupancy, there is also a series of financial obligations for which deadlines fall precisely in this spring period.
Over the past several years, the laws and regulations relating to accommodation providers and their obligations have constantly changed – partly due to the introduction of an entirely new package of tourism-related laws in 2019 and 2020, partly because of measures that were in force during the COVID-19 pandemic, and more recently due to amendments to the Local Taxes Act, which in part also applies to private accommodation providers.
It is therefore no surprise that many accommodation providers are somewhat confused and unsure about what exactly they need to pay, to whom, in what amounts and within which deadlines. Below, we provide a concise overview of the financial obligations that accommodation providers have under the applicable laws.
Main financial obligations of accommodation providers
- Tourist tax – minimum and maximum tourist tax amounts are set for each type of accommodation, while the decision on the exact amount is made by the county assemblies for each city or municipality within their area individually.
- Tourist board membership fee – the amount depends on the number of beds in the property and is paid for the entire year, either in one or in three instalments.
- Flat-rate income tax based on renting out tourist accommodation – paid according to the tax assessment decision issued by the Tax Administration, and paid into the accounts of the local self-government units in whose area the accommodation property is located. The amount of tax depends on the number of beds and the amount per bed defined by the local self-government units.
- Tax on holiday homes – municipalities and cities may adopt a decision on the amount of the holiday home tax, which includes all properties not used for permanent residence.
What should you pay special attention to when making payments?
It is important to be careful when paying all of the above financial obligations, because each of them has different account numbers, as well as different payment models and reference numbers. Special attention should be paid to this so that payments are recorded correctly.
It often happens that accommodation providers think they are paying everything, for example, to the tourist board, so they pay both the tourist tax and the membership fee into the same account, which is not correct.
If you have properties in several municipalities or cities
If you have accommodation properties in different municipalities and cities, you should also keep in mind that each tourist board has a different account for tourist tax and for the membership fee. You should therefore pay your obligations according to the capacities you have in each individual municipality or city.
For tourist tax and membership fee, you can check that information in the eVisitor system, while for other obligations you receive decisions by post from the competent authorities.
The above financial obligations refer to what is prescribed by law, but that does not necessarily mean that these are your only financial obligations.
For example, if you work with agencies whose registered office is outside the Republic of Croatia, you are also obliged to pay VAT on the commission for the services of those agencies, but we will write about that in more detail in one of our upcoming blog posts.
