The buyer of a real estate in the Republic of Croatia pays real estate transfer tax in the amount of 3% of the agreed purchase price or the market price assessed by the tax administration. The buyer of a real estate in Croatia may be exempted from the obligation to pay the real estate sales transfer tax if the buyer meets all the conditions set out by the Tax Administration of the Republic of Croatia.

The tax report is considered submitted once the documents prepared by a notary and court are filed in the Tax Administration office. A real estate transfer taxpayer is obliged to fill in and file the Real Estate Transfer Report file only if the document is not certified by a public notary or has not been issued by a court or a public institution within the scope of their competences under certain conditions. The competent tax authority issues a Provisional Tax Statement or Tax Statement on the payment of real estate transfer tax.

Citizens or legal entities registered in a Member State of the European Union can acquire the ownership right of a real estate located in the Republic of Croatia if they meet the conditions for the acquisition of ownership rights applicable to the citizens of the Republic of Croatia and legal entities established in the Republic of Croatia, except for the real estates located in the exempted areas such as agricultural land. Such foreign national does not need to require any approval nor any certificate from the Ministry of Justice to acquire the ownership rights of a real estate in the Republic of Croatia.

Foreign nationals or legal entities residing or registered outside the EU Member States need to receive the approval for the acquisition of property ownership rights in the Republic of Croatia from the Ministry of Justice, which they can receive only if the reciprocity rights are met for the acquisition of ownerships of a real estate in the Republic of Croatia between the country of a citizen's residence or registration, and the Republic of Croatia. The list of countries which meet the reciprocity rights can be found in the section Information on reciprocity in the acquisition of property ownership rights between the Republic of Croatia and countries other than the European Union Member States, the Republic of Iceland, the Principality of Liechtenstein, the Kingdom of Norway, and the Swiss Confederation.

A Tenancy Agreement can be prepared by our team of lawyers. Before drawing up an Agreement, our legal team verifies the land registry data for each property in detail. The parties are required to notarize the purchase-sale agreement in the presence of the agent, while the tenancy agreements may be notarized at the request of the contracting parties. The notarization of a purchase-sale agreement in the Republic of Croatia is carried out by a public notary, while such agreements can be notarized in the diplomatic consular offices of the Republic of Croatia abroad or in case of foreign nationals at the public notary abroad, where they are most commonly apostilled.

A solemnized tenancy agreement is an agreement concluded between a landlord and a tenant at a notary public. In addition to verifying the form of the agreement, a notary public confirms the contents of an agreement, especially if such an agreement contains an enforcement clause that protects the Landlord in the event that the Tenant fails to fulfill his contractual obligations. Although there is no obligation to conclude a solemnized tenancy agreement, the solemnization has many advantages, and we highly recommend solemnizing a tenancy agreement. A landlord is protected by an enforcement clause against all kinds of risks such as the collection of overdue and unpaid rents, overheads, or any damages to the property. An immediate enforcement is carried out on all the Tenant's movable and immovable property, and on all accounts of third parties involved in the Tenant's payment transactions. If a tenant does not hand over to a Landlord the subject real estate, free from all persons and things connected to or pertaining to the Tenant, upon the expiration of the tenancy agreement or the notice period as regulated by the agreement, the notary public shall, at the landlord's request, affix a certificate of enforceability to the tenancy agreement.

To obtain a PIN/OIB in the Republic of Croatia, a foreign national must go to a tax administration office and fill out the Request for assigning a personal identification number and enclose a copy of his/her passport or a European identity card if he/she is a citizen of the European Union. In case of a foreign legal entity, it is necessary to submit the Articles of Association (decision or excerpt from the competent register along with the Request for assigning PIN/OIB) in the tax administration office. All the documents must be in the Croatian language or translated into the Croatian language by a certified court interpreter.

The permanent place of residence is the place and address in the Republic of Croatia where the person permanently resides based on which he/she exercises his/her rights and obligations, while the registered address is the place and address in the Republic of Croatia where the person temporarily resides. Temporarily registered address needs to be reported to the authorities if a person lives there for more than three months. Place of residence and temporary registered address must be reported to the competent police administration/police station in charge of the area where the person wishes to report his/her place of residence or register his/her address.