AmCham conference 'Tax Policy for Economic Growth'

American Chamber of Commerce in Croatia (AmCham) held a conference called “Tax Policy for Economic Growth” in order to create dialogue and facilitate exchange of opinions of key stakeholders about the role of tax policy in economic development. It was concluded that continuous tax and other reforms are necessary for economic recovery and growth.

“Through five circles of tax and administration relief in the period from the 1st of January 2017 to the 1st of January 2021 certain goals have been reached, such as adaptability, simplicity, justness and minimal administrative burdens. Key priorities for future periods still remain further administrative and tax relief, primarily in order to encourage investing into business of especially innovative industries, with the goal of implementing intelligent and innovative solutions into the production processes, as well as retaining highly educated work force,” said Mr. Božidar Kutleša, the Director of the Tax Administration of the Republic of Croatia.

Mr Kutleša’s opening statement was followed by a panel discussion in which Josip Funda, Senior Country Economist, World Bank, Stanko Kršlović, Board Member, Philip Morris Zagreb, and Helena Schmidt, Partner in Deloitte Tax Advisory Department, also took part, alongside Mr Kutleša. The discussion included topics such as the role of the tax policy in attracting foreign direct investments, encouraging innovative industries and sustainable development of industries, taxes in the digital age and examples of good practice from other countries.

Helena Schmidt, Partner in Tax Advisory Department, Deloitte, said that for the last five years we have witnessed a slow decrease of tax rates in the segment of corporate income tax and income tax. We can say we are moving in the right direction, but too slowly, we have to observe our position in relation to our surroundings and the country’s competitiveness, and not compare ourselves to the state we were in a few years ago. Furthermore, the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the necessity of further digital and analytical transformation of the Tax Administration, planned activities of the Tax Administration and other relevant bodies with the purpose of preventing tax avoidance and increasing the efficiency of tax collection, but also strengthening of internal processes and the country’s transparency when it comes to taxes, as well as standardization of documents collected by taxpayers for the purposes of tax audits.

“The tax system must be created with the goal to encourage innovation and development in mind, or else someone else will do it, and Croatia will fall back in that regard and all the benefits that could have potentially been achieved will be irretrievably lost,” added Stanko Kršlović, Board Member, Philip Morris Zagreb.

Despite a high level of uncertainty, Croatian economy has been recovering faster than expected, and in 2021 it could grow by over 6 %. It is expected that the high growth rates will persist during the following years as well, facilitated by extremely high influx of monetary resources form European funds. However, in order to increase competitiveness in the long term, as well as the grow potential of Croatia’s economy, it is necessary to implement reforms. The legal system reform and the public administration reform, as well as continuous investments into the work force, are surpassingly more important than tax system alterations, concluded Josip Funda, World Bank Senior County Economist.

  • July 9, 2021
  • 09:30h - 11:00h
  • Hilton Garden Inn Zagreb, Radnička cesta 21
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Program
  • 09:00 – 09:30 Registration and breakfast
  • 09:30 – 09:35 AmCham welcome address - Andrea Doko Jelušić, Executive Director and Ruža Tomić Fontana, President of the Board of Governors
  • 09:35 - 09:50 Introductory speech - Božidar Kutleša, Director General of the Tax Administration
  • 09:50 – 10:50 Panel discussion
  • 10:50 – 11:00 Q&A

 

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