One of the leaders of the anti-property tax movement supports Prime Minister’s decision to delay its introduction.
After Prime Minister Andrej Plenković announced on Tuesday evening a delay in the introduction of the property tax, president of the “Lipa” Taxpayer Association Davor Huić welcomed the decision. “We will certainly not stop with our activities. Lipa will continue to keep track of what is going on with the property tax. We have an obligation to all those who have signed our petition”, said Huić, whose association gathered more than 120,000 signatures for the petition against the introduction of the tax, reports Večernji List on 9 August 2017.
He added that the public administration reform is needed and that this would be one of Lipa’s next initiatives.
Huić, who was an adviser to Prime Minister Tihomir Orešković during the previous government’s term, commented on claims that the key contribution to the government’s reversal was provided by a viral video which many Croats shared on Facebook.
“I am not going to comment on that. I think we should all congratulate the Croatian people and the citizens. I do not claim there weren’t other initiatives. I do not say that we are the only ones who should get credit for this,” said Huić.
“This is the first time that the state has not accomplished what it wanted without asking taxpayers in advance. So, the taxpayers and their voices have given the contribution to the abandonment of this law that would go against their interests. In Croatia, people can agree about few things, but they have agreed about this one – they did not want the introduction of the property tax,” said Huić, repeating that the government had made a mistake when it did not sufficiently explain its plans and the alleged benefits for citizens of the new tax, if they are any.
“They have explained quite well why the introduction of this tax would be beneficial for local self-government units and the state, but they did not say much about what it meant for the citizens, what are the benefits for citizens, what is the purpose and why they are doing it,” said Huić.
He added that the state and local self-government units are not ready to reform and implement this law. “I think they were not prepared to implement this law. It is telling that local self-government units already charge communal fees and the question is why did they then need to send questionnaires to property owners. They already have all the documents and information. Another problem is the fact that these questionnaires had to be filled in under threat,” explained Huić, adding that “Croatia is too burdened with fees and taxes, and does not need another one.”
“One of the reasons why young people are leaving Croatia is the high tax burden,” concluded Huić.
Translated from Večernji List.
