Legal Services

Legal questions

There are many laws and regulations in Croatia that deal with the selling and buying of real estate and that are connected with real estate. Here in short we offer answers to frequently asked questions concerning buying and selling of real estate.

If you have any other questions, please feel free to contact our agency directly.

 

What documentation does a real estate buyer need to provide?

Proof of Croatian citizenship – citizenship certificate, passport, or ID card. Copies of these documents can also be submitted, provided that the original is shown when submitting the copy.
 

Can foreign citizens buy real estate in Croatia?

EU CITIZENS 
Clients and companies from EU Member States acquire legal ownership of real estate in the Republic of Croatia under the same conditions as those applicable to Croatian nationals.
NON EU CITIZENS
Yes they can, but with approval issued by the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Croatia . This kind of approval is issued to the citizens of those countries with which Croatia has signed an agreement of reciprocity, and in extreme cases to the citizens of other countries.Procedure for receiving this approval is the following: when a foreign citizen decides to buy real estate in Croatia they need to sign a buying and selling agreement with the seller of the property. In this phase the agreement does not have to be notarized. When the Ministry issues the approval, the foreign citizen has the right to file the change of ownership to their name with the land registry of the municipal court, and they pay real estate purchase tax. Foreign citizens who already have a limited company set up in Croatia can buy real estate in the name of that company.
 

Limitations 
No foreign citizen is able to buy, for example, the name of real estate that is located in the exempted zones, namely:

  • Agricultural lands
  • Protected parts of nature.
     

What is the real estate sales tax in Croatia?

The Republic of Croatia has a single tax rate of 3% for the purchase of any kind of real estate and transactions that are related to it. This tax is based on the selling price of the real estate stated in the sales agreement, and on the estimated value of the real estate given by the appropriate municipal court appraiser. According to law, this tax is paid either by the buyer or by the seller for the buyer if the parties agree to that.
 

What is the tax amount for exchange of real estate?

The amount is also 3%, but in this case both owners of the real estates which are exchanged pay 3% of the estimated value of their property.

 

When does one need to pay the real estate sales tax?

After the conclusion and notarization of the sales agreement the public notary office submit a copy of the sales contract to the tax administration. The buyer is obliged to pay the exact amount of the tax from the tax office within 15 days. If the tax is not paid on time, additional interest will have to be paid for each day the initial payment is overdue.

 

Does the buyer need to notarise, with the seller, their signature on the sales agreement?

They can, but this is not obligatory.

 

What is the amount of down payment that has to be paid when concluding a sales agreement?

The usual deposit is 10% of the selling price, but this can be changed if both parties agree on it.

 

Can the real estate tax be paid in foreign currency?

Tax is paid by bank transfer or through the postal service. The amount paid is exchanged into kuna according to the medium exchange rate stated by Croatian National Bank on the day of payment.

 

Registration of the company

Foreign citizens can buy real estate as private citizens, or they can form a company and buy the said real estate through that company thereby avoiding the wait for approval from the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Croatia . This way, the foreign citizen, as the founder and owner of the company, has the same rights as Croatian legal entities. Since Aedium Agency d.o.o. offers a complete service, and wants to make this very stressful procedure as easy as possible for their clients, we offer help with the registering of a commercial company in Croatia.Our experienced team will guide you through the procedure of registration step by step. The founding and registration of the company takes from 2 to 4 weeks.

No matter what the purpose of the founding of the company is, and whether you are physically present in Croatia or you are abroad, we will help make this registration go as smoothly as possible. If you do decide to register a company, here are some things that you have to bear in mind:
  • choosing the name of the company: the name of the company has to be a Croatian, Latin or Greek word, or your name and surname.
  • this name has to be unique in the region.
  • you need to have a copy of your passport.
  • you need to take authorisation to the public notary's office.


The expenses of founding a company are around 4000 Euro: tax, public notary fees, state department fees, start up capital of 20,000 Kuna, and other bank expenses.