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The fiscal effects of a hypothetical temporary reduction in gross wages financed by the general government budget are “relatively” modest (between 0.38 and 1.22% of GDP), but the consequences due to the impact on key economic indicators (GDP, budget revenue, and indirectly, the deficit and public debt) can be large and lasting. However, the current situation is a threat to the economy and public finances, but at the same time an opportunity for urgently needed structural reforms, selective and well-thought-out cuts, and the reorganisation and optimisation of the Croatian public sector.

Katolička crkva u Hrvatskoj financira se iz državnog proračuna temeljem međunarodnih ugovora koje je Republika Hrvatska potpisala sa Svetom Stolicom (tzv. Vatikanski ugovori), a druge vjerske zajednice na temelju Zakona o pravnom položaju vjerskih zajednica, ako su s Republikom Hrvatskom potpisale posebne ugovore o pitanjima od zajedničkog interesa. Osnovni cilj rada je na temelju deskriptivne i komparativne analize javno dostupnih podataka iz 2016. o isplatama iz državnog proračuna, provjeriti pretpostavku da Katolička crkva u Hrvatskoj, u odnosu na druge vjerske zajednice, nominalno, i u odnosu na broj vjernika, dobiva najviše sredstava. Analiza je pokazala da su, iako nominalno najviše sredstava dobije Katolička crkva u Hrvatskoj, po službeno objavljenom broju vjernika najviše sredstava dobile dvije židovske vjerske zajednice (1.792 kn na temelju ugovora o pitanjima od zajedničkog interesa, tj. 5.042 kn ako se pribroje i druga sredstva državnog proračuna), dok je Katolička crkva u Hrvatskoj na temelju Vatikanskih ugovora dobila 182 kn po vjerniku. U narednom bi razdoblju trebalo odgovoriti na otvorena pitanja u pogledu neujednačenosti pravnoga i financijskog statusa vjerskih zajednica, a, u cilju što veće transparentnosti, bilo bi i poželjno podatke o financiranju vjerskih zajednica iz državnog proračuna na godišnjoj razini javno objaviti na jednome mjestu., Financing from the state budget of the Catholic Church in Croatia is arranged by the international treaties between the Republic of Croatia and the Holy See. Many other religious communities are also receiving funds from the state budget on the basis of the Law on the Legal Status of Religious Communities, if they signed special treaties on issues of mutual interest signed with the Republic of Croatia. In this paper we evaluate the widespread assumption that Catholic Church in Croatia receives more funds than other religious communities, both nominally and in terms of the membership. The analysis based on the descriptive and comparative analysis of publicly available data for 2016 confirmed that Catholic Church in Croatia is indeed entitled to the greatest share of available public funds. However, two Jewish religious communities jointly received most funds per member (HRK 1,792 based on the treaty or a total of HRK 5,042 per member if other funds from the state budget are added). When it comes to the Catholic Church, only the funds guaranteed by the treaties were paid from the state budget in 2016 (amounting for HRK 182 per member). In line with this, it is necessary to address the issue of unequal legal and financial treatment of religious communities in Croatia. In order to increase transparency, it would also be desirable to publish figures on funds given to all religious communities on a yearly basis.

The International Monetary Fund’s fourth review of the Fiscal Transparency Code from 2014 sets out the principle of participation according to which the government must provide citizens with a brief, simple and easily understandable overview of the implications of all budgetary measures and with an opportunity to participate in the budgetary decision-making process. The Fiscal Transparency Code must be implemented in Croatia, which is an IMF member state, so this paper uses an interdisciplinary approach to point out the importance and economic effects of public participation in the budgetary process, identify the normative mechanisms of public participation in the budgetary process, and look into what they comprise of and whether they can help in achieving “participation in budgetary decision-making†, as provided for by point 2.3.3. of the Code in Croatia. It is assumed that the Croatian legal system provides various normative mechanisms of public participation in the budgetary process, which enables the implementation of the participation principle set out in the Code. These mechanisms are, however, not specific to the budgetary process itself, but rather represent general normative mechanisms of public participation, which apply in the legislative process as well.

The introduction of various tax expenditures by the tax authorities, mostly in corporate income taxation (CIT), in order to kick start development in areas affected by the war as well as in economically underdeveloped areas has been characteristic of the Croatian tax system since 2000. Although the purpose of such forms of state aid was to foster economic development and equalize the level over the entire country, at the same time they caused forgone tax revenues and it is therefore necessary to analyze their advantages and disadvantages and evaluate their possible positive or negative effects. This paper deals with the analysis of tax expenditures in the system of CIT in Croatia and it investigates their effect on the budget and the possible advantages brought by their introduction. The main purpose of the paper is to answer the questions as to whether the expenditures that have been introduced in CIT justify their purpose and the goal of their introduction and what can be done to improve the existing CIT expenditures system.

The objective of this research was to show systematically all the items that represent tax expenditures in Croatia, within the systems of personal and corporate income tax, real estate transfer tax and value added tax, and to ascertain the real level of tax expenditures in terms of each individual form of tax in the period from 2001 to 2004. At the same time, this research should serve as a source of information on tax expenditure necessary for an analysis of the Croatian tax system and an assessment of its efficiency.

The Croatian value added taxation system was last changed in early 2013, and a new VAT Act is currently in parliamentary procedure and is planned to be adopted in mid-2013. Can the changes in the Croatian VAT system ensure compliance with the VAT rates in the EU Member States?

In this article we have endeavoured to show the amount of the administrative costs of taxation and customs clearing in the Republic of Croatia in the last few years, to point out certain problems that exist in the functioning of the departments that collect them and to give some recommendations about how to reduce these problems. Particular attention is devoted to the Tax and Customs Administrations and to the Financial Police (as it was until disbanded). These departments have the task of collecting tax and customs revenues in line with the law, providing citizens with services from their domains that are as good as possible and paying attention to the costs that are incurred while they are carrying out their jobs, both the administrative costs (borne by the tax and customs authorities) and the compliance costs (borne by the taxpayers). In this paper too we have shown that many of the problems that showed up during the first investigation still exist, that is, that nothing has been done for these problems to be eliminated.