There is no reason to give up the plan for a real estate tax because it is not a new tax but a substitute for the utilities tax and the tax on holiday homes, Finance Minister Slavko Linic said on Tuesday commenting on the statement by Economy Minister Ivan Vrdoljak that no new taxes would be imposed on businesses next year.
The real estate tax will not be higher than the tax citizens have been paying so far, and only rich people, who do not know what to do with their vacant houses and apartments, will be paying more, Linic told reporters after a press conference on fiscalisation.
After talks with political parties and tax experts, the Finance Ministry plans to step up its campaign in January to explain to the public the significance of the real estate tax.
The new tax is opposed by the Croatian People's Party (HNS), a junior partner in the ruling coalition, but Linic said that at today's discussion the HNS had nothing against the proposal except that timing was not right.
"Business people also say that the time is not right, but then again in Croatia the time is never right for anything. People would not want to change anything, and a crisis is the right time to change things if we want to be successful," Linic said.
Linic said that his ministry had completed talks with the most interested parties and that in the end the government would decide what to do with the proposed tax.
