Double Tax Treaties in Croatia

The double taxation treaties signed by Croatia are meant to protect companies and natural persons against the levy of the same tax on various types of incomes in Croatia and signatory states. The provisions of such agreements can be explained by our lawyers in Croatia. Our team of advisors is at your disposal with legal support when registering your business in this country and also tax advice in a wide range of aspects.

The states that signed DTTs with Croatia

The states that have signed double tax treaties with Croatia are: Albania, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, China, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iran, India, Ireland, Indonesia, Iceland, Israel, Italy, Jordan, Korea, Kuwait, Kosovo, Latvia, Luxembourg, Lithuania, North Macedonia, Malaysia, Malta, Mauritius, Morocco, Moldova, Montenegro, the Netherlands, Norway, Oman, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Romania, Russia, San Marino, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Syria, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, the United Kingdom, as well as Andorra, Cyprus, Egypt, Hong Kong, Japan, Kazakhstan, Liechtenstein, South Africa, the United Arab Emirates and Vietnam.

Many agreements with other countries are in the process of ratification and along with these, many protocols for information exchange were signed or are about to be signed. We remind that foreign investors can talk to one of our Croatian attorneys for information about the double taxation agreements signed by Croatia with other states.

What do the DTTs in Croatia mention?

The double taxation treaties signed by Croatia contain information about the taxation of incomes for companies and natural persons in this country. Also, these conventions comprise several methods through which the double taxation is avoided. There is also information about reduced taxes for particular profits registered in Croatia.

How can companies benefit from double tax treaties in Croatia?

In order to have an idea about the advantages of the double taxation agreements, the following requirements should be sufficient for companies in Croatia:

a legal entity needs to prepare a set of documents and deposit it to the Croatian Tax Administration;
these documents must prove that the candidate is already paying taxes in the country of origin;
the forms of the double taxation that can be received from the Official Gazette must be completed in four copies: one for the claimant, one for the tax payer, one for the Croatian tax administration, and one for the foreign tax authority;
all forms must be sent to the foreign country for authorization and two of them are returned after being checked.

We remind you that the main purpose of the double tax treaties is to avoid the double taxation in Croatia and also in the country where the company has its head office.

Some of the EU Directives imposed in Croatia

There are special tax treatments referring to interests, dividends, and royalties paid to companies from other EU Member States and, under EU agreements, from Switzerland and the EEA states (Norway, Liechtenstein, Iceland). These are imposed through European Union Directives and are applied as follows:

Full exemption of interests and royalty payments apply if there is a direct minimum holding of 25% for at least 2 years without interruption.
If the beneficial owner of the royalties and interest is a company resident in another EU Member State, an EEA state or Switzerland.
Full exemption on dividend and profit shares payments if they are distributed to a Swiss parent company/EEA company where the recipient has a 10% as minimum holding in the firm for at least 2 years and without interruption.

Considering the above aspects, it is also specified that EU Directive advantages are available even before the agreed holding period expires if the taxpayer delivers a bank guarantee on the amount of probable withholding tax duty. On the other hand, if the holding period is not respected, the guarantee can be used to establish the tax liability of the company in question.

We remind you that you can opt for the services of our specialists if you want to learn more about taxation in Croatia. Our Croatian lawyers can guide you in all aspects, including the double taxation agreement signed by the country.

Modifications of specific DTTs signed by Croatia

Owners of companies that are subject to double tax agreements signed in Croatia must consider the following aspects:

Instead of the standard withholding tax rates of 10% and 15%, since 12 October 2023 a bigger rate of 25% concerns all types of fees subject to such tax in Croatia.
This rate also applies to companies offering business consulting services, market research, and audit services that are paid to foreign companies with registered offices or places of effective management in the states classified in the EU list as “non-cooperative jurisdictions”.
In this case, Croatia does not have a double taxation treaty that applies in the same way as with the other countries. According to the EU list as updated on 9 October 2026, these EU non-cooperative jurisdictions are American Samoa, Anguilla, Guam, Palau, Russia (treaty rates apply as Croatia has a DTT with it), Turks and Caicos Islands, US Virgin Islands and Vanuatu.

Besides assistance in tax matters, our team can help you in other aspects too. For instance, those interested in immigration to Croatia can discuss all the formalities with our local experts. Feel free to contact our law firm in Croatia for any concern you might have.