The Croatian Constitutional Court has passed a ruling temporarily suspending the application of the Value Added Tax Act to the daily newspapers, under which only dailies with at least 25,000 words are subject to a lower VAT rate of 5%.
The court explained on Wednesday that any unjustified discrimination against newspapers had a direct impact on the freedom of the press, as part of the constitutionally guaranteed freedom to express one's opinions.
The court said that the ruling would not affect a final judgment, until which time all newspapers, except those mainly designed for advertising purposes, would be paying VAT at the rate of 5%.
"A final judgment will be rendered after obtaining and analysing expert opinions, studying the relevant practice of the European Court of Human Rights and the EU Court of Justice, and after conducting a comparative analysis of relevant legal provisions and constitutional law practice in other countries," the court said on its website.
The ruling was welcomed by the head of the Croatian Journalists' Association (HND), Zdenko Duka, who said that the court had properly assessed that some newspapers were discriminated against.
"I think it is fair that all daily newspapers should pay the lower VAT rate and that there should be no discrimination as introduced by the legal provision mandating 25,000 words," Duka told the press.
