As of next year, Croatia will tax a majority of salaries only 20%, plus local tax, which is four percentage points less than now, Vecernji List daily said on Monday.

The government believes this change will reduce the tax burden on salaries by HRK 2 billion annually, the paper said.

How much each employed person will benefit from the cut depends on their gross salary and deductions for children and other dependent family members.

Income tax is paid by all employed persons as well as the jobless who do part-time work and pensioners whose allowance exceeds HRK 4,000.

Finance Minister Zdravko Maric says two-thirds of those liable for income tax actually do not pay it because their income is below the taxation threshold when deductions for dependent family members are added to their non-taxable monthly income (HRK 4,000) .

Those not paying income tax cannot expect anything from the tax rate cuts going into force as of January 1, which has been a source of numerous frustrations and dissatisfaction for a long time. From every salary, regardless of its amount, is first deducted 20% for pension contributions, while the rest is considered as income. Those whose gross salary is below HRK 5,000 do not pay income tax, only HRK 1,000 for pension contributions.

Additional deductions make the difference even more pronounced. If a worker with a gross salary of over HRK 10,000 has two children who bring an additional HRK 4,250 in tax deductions, there is nothing to deduct, so they cannot expect the reduction of the income tax rate to 20% will result in a higher salary as of January 1.

Children and dependent family members bring big deductions due to which parents with two or more children generally do not pay income tax. Reducing the income tax rate from 24 to 20% could result, for an employed Zagreb resident with an average gross salary of HRK 9,200 without children or dependents, in a HRK 160 higher monthly salary as of January 1, Vecernji List said.

(€1 = HRK 7.5)