Eurasia Press & News
Croatia’s Finance Ministry on Tuesday published a list of over 102,000 companies and individuals who have failed to pay the state millions of euros in taxes.The list of companies that owe the state is headed by the Zagreb-based Tempo construction company, with a tax debt of HRK 292 million [€39 million].
It is followed by the Croatian national broadcaster HRT with a tax debt of HRK 222 million, and the Zagreb-based Pan paper industry, which has filed for bankruptcy, which owes HRK 143 million.Announcing the list, Finance Minister Slavko Linic said that the government wanted to make a clear distinction between those who failed to pay their taxes and those who paid as required.
Critics of the move say that the publication of the list will have little effect as many of the companies have already gone bankrupt.
In February, the Finance Ministry announced that the tax administration had failed to collect €7 billion in taxes over the past 12 years, and pledged to publish a list of the tax debtors. The publication of the list was made possible due to amendments to the general tax law, which regulates guidelines related to business secrets.
The list released on Tuesday contains companies with a tax debt above HRK 300,000 [€40,000] , small businesses that owe over 100,000 kuna [€13,000] and individual citizens who owe more than HRK 15,000 [€2,000] and are in arrears of more than 90 days.
The list does not include taxpayers who have reached agreed with the administration about the rescheduling of their payment.
The list includes 7,124 companies with an estimated total tax debt of over HRK 15 billion. There are 13,066 defaulting small businesses whose total tax debt is estimated at HRK 4.4 billion.
The list contains 82,180 individual citizens, with an estimated total debt of HRK 10 billion. The top individual debtor owes the state HRK 61 million.
