Croats Have Over €1 Billion In Savings Abroad

Croats have around 1 billion euros sitting in bank accounts in 19 countries, and the tax man wants to know more, as daily Jutarnji list reports…

The Ministry of Finance have been made aware of what is estimated to be held in foreign bank accounts by Croatian citizens thanks to banking data exchange Croatia has with a number of countries. With Croatia set to introduce tax on savings next year the data is becoming more relevant to the government. According to the report, around 22 million euros in interest alone was earned last year on savings in bank accounts in 19 countries. Probably more important to the Ministry than the forthcoming introduction of a tax on savings, is that the data will be used to help the tax department combat tax evasion.

The preliminary data on savings of Croatian citizens abroad is far from definitive however, with a number of banks not submitting savings data. Among them are Austria, whose banking system has been attractive to Croats, whilst data is missing from Switzerland and Liechtenstein also. If those three countries are factored in to the equation, then experts claim that the amount would be a multiple of the aforementioned billion euros.

Unofficial figures show that the most attractive country out of the 19 for Croatian depositors is Italy, followed by Germany. Data shows that 85% of the savings are in Italy, Germany, Luxembourg and Sweden. Slovenia, Belgium and the UK made up most of the remainder.

‘”We will compare the preliminary data on savings abroad with the financial situation of these depositors, which is made possible via OIB numbers (personal identification numbers). The imbalance will be the base for taxation,” a source told Jutarnji list.