Horvat replaced Franjo Lazar, who tendered an irrevocable resignation, telling the press that one of the reasons was his failure to solve one of the biggest problems of Croatian migrant workers, double taxation.
He said the union sent nine proposals to the Finance Ministry a month ago but “received no reply, yet we proposed how to solve that more easily, less painfully.”
Lazar said the union was established to keep young families in Croatia. People will emigrate from border counties, notably in northwestern Croatia, as well as from Istria, if double taxation continues, he added.
He said “every county interprets the double taxation agreement differently.”
Asked if the government’s incentive of HRK 200,000 could motivate Croatians working abroad to return to Croatia, Lazar said it could not and that in Austria they could make that in net pay in ten months.
The union’s new president said Slovenians working abroad had similar problems and that this was why an agreement was signed with their union.
“They have managed to solve parts of that. We are continuing, we are not giving up and are working to achieve the best conditions possible for the people who work abroad,” said Horvat.
The Slovenian union was established in 2016, its president Mario Fekonja said, adding that by working together the two unions will be able to show Europe the extent of their problems more easily.
“One of the fundamental postulates of the European Union is the free flow of labour and capital, which the financial administrations of Slovenia and Croatia, with their behaviour, deny us,” he said, adding that both “operate illegally and arbitrarily.”
Our priority is for all tax offices at national level to act equally and in line with the law, Fekonja said.
