Government Under Fire for Increasing Income Tax for University Students

University students are organizing protests against government’s decision.

Croatian university students, revolted by the new rules on the taxation of student earnings, have launched an online petition and announced they would organize large protests, reports Index.hr on January 5, 2017.

The reason for their protests is the new Law on Income Tax, which came into effect on 1 January and which contains provision that all university students with incomes higher than 15,000 kuna a year will be subject to income tax of 24 percent and an additional local surtax paid according to the student’s place of residence. Under the previous law, university students were able to earn 50,000 kuna a year without paying taxes.

The petition was launched immediately after the announcement of the controversial decision and since early this morning it has already collected more than 10,000 signatures.

Students are surprised by this decision, especially given the promises which HDZ made during the recent election campaign when it said that students should be able to earn a living without fear of taxation.

SDP President Davor Bernardić also called on the government on Thursday to amend the
law, accusing the government of demonstrating “vicious cruelty” toward young people. “Middle class is disappearing in Croatia. Studying is expensive, and many people can study only if they work at the same time. HDZ has now taken that hope away”, wrote Bernardić on his Facebook profile.

He asked Prime Minister Plenković whether Croatia will be a country where only children of wealthy parents will be able to go to university, whether the skills needed for a better future will be available only to those who already have enough money and denied to those who want to work and educate themselves at the very beginning of their adult lives.

Urging an immediate modification of this provision, SDP president pointed out that during the election campaign HDZ promised something quite the opposite, which once again proved its complete lack of credibility.

Mass emigration of young people is the main demographic problem in Croatia, and it is certain that this decision, if the government does not change it, will not help mitigate it.

 

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