Finance Minister Zdravko Maric said on Wednesday that draft proposals under which the minimum level of mandatory monthly gross wage for directors-company owners should be above 10,000 kuna (€1,345) was not an anti-entrepreneurial measure, adding that it has not yet been decided whether it should be added to a set of tax reform moves.

“It’s regretful that people are drawing conclusions that something is being done against entrepreneurs. Many of the measures we have adopted were the result of our talking to entrepreneurs and accepting their input,” Maric said.

The finance ministry has drawn up many measures to boost entrepreneurship in the widest sense, he added.

“Now we are reaching the next round in reducing tax burden, and only one from a whole set of measures that have been put to public consultation has come into focus,” Maric said.

The proposal, which would raise the minimum mandatory gross wage from which contributions will be paid for owners-directors of private companies, caused uproar among some politicians and business people.

Those who support the proposal said that, by raising the minimum level, the intention is to prevent abuse such as when a smaller gross wage is reported so that the recipients can pay lower health insurance and pension contributions.

In response to a remark from the press that now all directors-owners could be punished instead of only those who shun the rules, Minister Maric said that entrepreneurs “are the foundation of Croatian economy, and no societal issue can be settled without strong entrepreneurship.”

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