Croatia

There are no deviations from the Directive.

In principle, legal entities and as well as individual tax advisors registered at the Croatian Chamber of Tax Advisors can qualify as intermediary.

There are no deviations from the Directive with respect to the definition of intermediaries. There is no further guidance in Croatian legislation or Tax Authorities Instructions' on the subject whether a corporate tax department (or its members) within a MNE or within a group of entities qualifies as an intermediary.

These actions are not defined.

There are no deviations from the Directive.

There are no deviations from the Directive.

The relevant taxpayer has a reporting obligation, instead of an intermediary, in the following three cases:1. Intermediaries are not required to report information due to legal professional privilege;2. There is no intermediary involved in the arrangement (the arrangement is designed and implemented in-house with no external help);3. Intermediaries involved in the arrangement do not have an EU nexus, and therefore have no reporting obligations.

There are no deviations from the Directive.

There are no deviations from the Directive.

There are no deviations from the Directive. If the intermediary is liable to file information on reportable cross-border arrangements with the competent authorities of more than one Member State, such information shall be filed only in Croatia in the following cases:a) the intermediary is resident for tax purposes in Croatia;b) the intermediary has a permanent establishment in Croatia through which the services with respect to the arrangement are provided and the intermediary is not a resident for tax purposes in any other Member State;c) the intermediary is incorporated in or governed by the laws of Croatia and the conditions mentioned under point a) and b) are not fulfilled in another Member State;d) the intermediary is registered with a professional association related to legal, taxation or consultancy services in Croatia and the conditions mentioned under point a), b) and c) are not fulfilled in another Member State. The intermediary is exempt from reporting obligation if there is proof that the same information has been filed in another Member State.

There are no deviations from the Directive. Generally, where there is more than one intermediary, the obligation to file information on the reportable cross-border arrangement lies with all intermediaries involved in the same reportable cross-border arrangement. An intermediary shall be exempt from filing the information only to the extent that there is proof that the same information has already been filed by another intermediary.

There are no deviations from the Directive. If the relevant taxpayer has an obligation to file information on the reportable cross-border arrangement with the competent authorities of more than one Member State, such information shall be filed only in Croatia in the following cases:a) the relevant taxpayer is resident for tax purposes in Croatia;b) the relevant taxpayer has a permanent establishment benefiting from the arrangement in Croatia and the relevant taxpayer is not a resident for tax purposes in any other Member State;c) the relevant taxpayer receives income or generates profits in Croatia and the relevant taxpayer is not a resident for tax purposes and has no permanent establishment in any other Member State;d) the relevant taxpayer carries on an activity in Croatia, and the conditions mentioned under point a), b) and c) are not fulfilled in another Member State. The relevant taxpayer is exempt from reporting obligation if there is proof that the same information has been filed in another Member State.

There are no deviations from the Directive. If the reporting obligation lies with the relevant taxpayer and where there is more than one relevant taxpayer, the relevant taxpayer that is to file information is the one that features first in the list below:a) the relevant taxpayer that agreed on the reportable cross-border arrangement with the intermediary;b) the relevant taxpayer that manages the implementation of the arrangement. The relevant taxpayer is exempt from reporting obligation if there is proof that the same information has been filed by the other relevant taxpayer.

The intermediary or relevant taxpayer can prove the exemption by referencing the number assigned to that specific arrangement by Tax Authorities.

National tax arrangements are not subject to report.

All taxes with the exception of VAT, customs duties, and excise duties which are covered by other EU regulations on automatic exchange of information and compulsory social contributions paid to Member State, fees, and other certificates and documents issued by public bodies and payments of contractual nature.

There are no deviations from the Directive.

There are no deviations from the Directive.

The Main benefit test will be satisfied if it can be established that the main benefit or one of the main benefits which, having regard to all relevant facts and circumstances, a person may reasonably expect to derive from an arrangement is obtaining a tax advantage. According to Tax Authorities' Instructions, the examination of whether the main benefit test is satisfied is of an objective nature. It is not necessary to examine the motives or intentions of the person entering the arrangement, or whether the person expects to benefit from the tax benefit that will result from the arrangement or any other reason that the person may have to enter into the arrangement.

According to Tax Authorities' Instructions, tax advantage may include relief or increased relief from tax, repayment or increased repayment of tax, avoidance or reduction of a charge to tax or an assessment to tax, avoidance of a possible assessment to tax, deferral of payment of tax or advancement of repayment of tax, and avoidance of an obligation to deduct or account for tax.

There are no deviations from the Directive.

White list defining arrangements excluded from reporting obligation does not exist.

There are no deviations from the Directive.

According to Tax Authorities' Instructions, a tax arrangement can be made available for implementation in several ways, e.g. taxpayer may approach the intermediary seeking advice or a solution, and the intermediary may make the arrangement available in response to the taxpayers' request. Further, the arrangement could be made available during the performance of some other business between the intermediary and the client, if, for example, the intermediary recognizes the potential need of the client and offers the arrangement as a solution. Also, proactive marketing by intermediaries can have the meaning as if the arrangement has been made available to potential clients. This may include online advertising of the arrangement or through offers to potential clients. All the details of the arrangement do not have to be finalized in order to be considered as having been made available as long as the substance of the arrangement itself can be determined. For example, if an arrangement is designed and offered to a client but the client withdraws from its application, the arrangement will still be deemed to have been made available and therefore subject to reporting.

According to Tax Authorities' Instructions, one is willing to implement the arrangement if he is in a position where he can take the first step in implementing the arrangement with the purpose that the arrangement will be implemented after the first steps are taken.

There is no specific guidance.

There are no deviations from the Directive.

In general, the intermediary has to file the whole report. After submitting the report, the intermediary will receive a number by the Tax Authority. Afterward, the intermediary is obliged to notify (number and relevant information that was submitted) other intermediaries and relevant taxpayer. In cases where an intermediary invokes the legal privilege, other intermediaries or the relevant taxpayer will be obliged to submit the report.

The intermediary, as well as the relevant taxpayer, can be obliged to provide the report.There is no specific guidance.

There are no deviations from the Directive.

Croatian Tax Authorities will assign to each report of a cross-border tax arrangement a number. The number can be used as proof that the report has been filed.The number contains in total 17 signs (two-digit country code, A as arrangement date of filing and combination of 6 letters and numbers).

The reporting deadline was February 28, 2021.

The reporting deadline was January 31, 2021.

The reporting deadline for an arrangement for which the reporting obligation lies after 1 January 2021 is 30 days after the event triggering the reporting obligation occurs.

A penalty for the offense is prescribed in the following cases: 1. if the intermediary or relevant taxpayer do not file a full report in the prescribed deadline; 2. if the intermediary does not file a periodic report with updated information on reportable arrangements every three months; 3. if the relevant taxpayer does not file information about their use of arrangement in each year for which they use it or if he does not file a notification within 3 months after the end of the year in which the arrangement was used;4. if the intermediary invokes legal privilege and does not notify within 3 days other intermediary or the relevant taxpayer.

The penalty varies from approx. EUR 270 up to 27,000 for legal entities and for the responsible person within the legal entity from approx. EUR 270 up to 2,700. If the intermediary or the relevant taxpayer is an individual the penalty varies from approx. EUR 135 up to 13,400.

No distinction made between intermediaries and relevant taxpayers.

There are no penalties for redundant reports.

The penalties do not differ.

The penalties do not differ.

No other disclosure regimes exist.

There are no other deviations from the Directive.

Croatian Tax Authorities.

There are no other obligations.

Intermediary is primarily obliged to report. Intermediaries have the right to a waiver if the reporting obligation would breach the legal professional privilege under national legislation that regulates their professions. If intermediary notifies the relevant taxpayer or another intermediary of a waiver, the obligation to submit information transfers to other notified intermediary or if there is no such intermediary to the relevant taxpayer.

Yes.

Act on administrative cooperation in the field of taxes by which provisions of Directive (EU) 2018/822 ("DAC6 Directive") have been implemented in Croatian legislation regulates the possibility that intermediary has the right to a waiver due to professional secrecy and indicates that for the definition of this term reference should be made to other national legislations that regulate certain professions, i.e. Croatian Lawyers Act and Tax Advisory Act.

Having in mind that the Act on administrative cooperation in the field of taxes regulates professional privilege by referencing to Croatian Lawyers Act and Tax Advisory Act which mention legal/professional secrecy, we believe that these terms are used as synonyms.

The reporting obligation could be in breach of the legal professional privilege for certain professions e.g. lawyers and certified tax advisors in Croatia. Professional privilege is regulated for these professions by the Croatian Lawyers Act and Tax Advisory Act. According to the Croatian Lawyers Act, a lawyer is obliged, to keep as a professional secret everything that the client has entrusted to him or that he has otherwise learned while representing the party. Furthermore, other persons who work or have worked in a law office are also obliged to keep professional secrecy. According to Tax Advisory Act, a certified tax advisor (who has a relevant certificate and is a member of a Croatian Chamber of Tax Advisors) is obliged to keep as a professional secret everything that the client has entrusted to him or that he has learned in another way while performing his work and is "entitled" to a waiver form filing information.

Intermediaries, i.e. lawyers and certified tax advisory have the right to a waiver if the reporting obligation would breach the legal professional privilege under national legislation that regulates their professions. Therefore, the professional privilege of these intermediaries is an obligation according to special acts that regulate their professions. With respect to the conditions that need to be fulfilled by the intermediary in order to make use of professional privilege, the obligation to report will transfer to another intermediary or relevant taxpayer if the intermediary notifies other intermediaries or if there are no other intermediaries the relevant taxpayer on invoking professional privilege within 3 days.

Notification to other intermediaries or, if there are no other intermediaries, to the relevant taxpayer is required within 3 days from invoking the professional privilege.There are no specific details on the notification procedure given by the Croatian Tax Authorities.

According to the Code of Ethics for lawyers, disclosure of legal secrecy is allowed only if the party/client unambiguously allows the lawyer to do so, if it is necessary for the defence of the lawyer or if it is necessary to justify the lawyer's decision to leave the defence (terminate the representation). On the other hand, national legislation that regulates the profession of certified tax advisors does not specify these conditions.