The opposition DP party's whip, Stephen Bartulica, said on Monday the taxation of Croatian residents who work abroad "discloses the institutions' harsh treatment of their own citizens."

“When the state wants to be efficient, as in this case, things are handled quickly, but when citizens depend on public administration, for example in (post-earthquake) reconstruction, the state is absent,” Stephen Bartulica told the press.

He said many Croatians abroad had been calling him these days to complain about the Tax Administration.

“Enough of such oppression of one’s own people! They have done nothing wrong. Many of them pay taxes in the states they are in and now Croatia, because the rates here are somewhat higher, wants to collect the difference.”

Bartulica said Croatia’s policy offered incentives to expats to come back, while on the other hand the Tax Administration’s policy was forcing some people to even consider giving up their Croatian citizenship.

Those people didn’t leave Croatia to avoid paying taxes but to survive economically, he said, adding that the ruling HDZ party should reduce the influence of politics on people’s lives. “Then perhaps… those people might come back.”

Bartulica did not rule out that some citizens might be evading taxes and using health insurance in Croatia despite living abroad but reiterated that they left because of the situation in Croatia, the state was partially responsible for them leaving.

He also said the state was very late in presenting measures to reduce the inflationary blow to citizens, and that one of the reasons for the current inflation was the green revolution.