The Croatian parliament on Friday adopted the amendments to the Value Added Tax (VAT) Act unanimously with 123 votes in an effort to buffer the price hikes.

Under the amended law, the standard VAT rate of 25% is lowered to 13% on children’s food, edible oils and fats, butter and margarine, live animals, fresh meat and small goods, live and fresh fish, crabs, vegetables, fruit, eggs, seedlings and seeds, fertilizer and pesticides, animal fodder and tickets for concerts, sports and cultural events.

The reduced 13% VAT is also imposed on natural gas, heating from heating stations, firewood, pellets, briquettes and cuttings as well as menstrual products.

VAT on natural gas will additionally be temporarily reduced to 5% for the period from 1 April to 31 March 2023.

The Sabor also adopted the Law on Settlements which improves and harmonizes the way boundaries between settlements are determined and how the names of settlements, streets, squares and house numbers are to be marked.

The national legislature adopted a Law on State Measurements and the Cadastre which abolishes the majority of real costs for the use of data from excerpts, printouts, transcripts and certificates.

A bill on the consolidation of farmland will receive a second reading. The bill aims at implementing the consolidation of land by 2026 and HRK 313 million has been earmarked for this purpose.