The Finance Ministry and the Tax Authority will be lenient during the first month, but as of February they will be rigorous and any offenders may expect stiff fines or even closure of their establishments, the ministry said.

Since the fiscalisation project was launched in June, everyone has had enough time to prepare themselves for the implementation of the law, and after inspectors visit 22,000 businesses subject to fiscalisation in January and warn those who may not be ready yet, the tax authorities will not have mercy on anyone, Finance Minister Slavko Linic told a press conference.

Linic dismissed complaints from restaurant and cafe owners that fiscal cash registers presented an additional financial burden on them, saying that the cost of fiscalisation per business owner would range between 1,500 and 2,000 kuna (200 and 260 euros). He also noted that VAT on catering services would be reduced from 25% to 10% as of the New Year.

The Finance Ministry is starting a resolute fight against the grey economy in order to ensure a regular flow of revenues into government coffers as well as fair competition, Linic said.

The ministry's stance on the grey economy has received public support as indicated by the results of a recent survey conducted by Ipsos agency on a sample of 1,0000 respondents, which revealed that most people gave priority to the fight against the grey economy and tax evasion over addressing financial problems in the health services.