Marijan Pavlicek, a member of parliament from the Croatian Sovereignist Party, said on Friday that the government's plan to tax property will mean an additional tax burden for residents and especially for emigrants and property owners in sparsely populated rural areas.

Commenting on Finance Minister Marko Primorac’s statement that the new round of tax reform is aimed at bringing vacant flats back onto the market and thus lowering property and rental prices, Pavlicek said that the vacancies are due to the current government’s wrong policies, which have forced over 400,000 Croats to move to Western European countries.

“And now you want to tax them additionally through property tax. So much for your care for them,” said the opposition MP.

Pavlicek fears that the new tax will have a negative impact on citizens who have inherited property.

It is outrageous that someone has to pay this tax on a vacant property in rural areas in Slavonia, Baranja or Lika,” he said, adding that these properties cannot be sold on the market because they are located in sparsely populated areas.