{"title":"Personal income tax non-standard reliefs in European Union member states, Croatia and countries of the region","authors":"Helena Blažić, S. Drezgić","doi":"10.3326/FINTP.37.1.3","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3326/FINTP.37.1.3","url":null,"abstract":"The paper presents an overview of the current situation in personal income tax non-standard reliefs for the EU-15, most of the EU-12, Croatia and countries of the region, as well as a comparison of them for 2006-2011. A review of personal income tax relief issues in last twenty years is given, especially concerning the reaction of the entire personal income tax system to the economic and financial crises. It is followed by comparative analysis of non-standard tax reliefs in the stated period. Despite the mostly negative attitude of tax theory (and policy), economic crisis and fiscal consolidation, they still play very significant role. The EU-15 actually broadened these reliefs in the period observed, while the analyzed EU-12, Croatia and countries of the region with less developed non-standard tax reliefs have reduced them significantly. Many of these countries, accordingly, have none today. Since the introduction of the new personal income tax system in 1994 Croatia has gone a long way, from their complete exclusion to the inclusion of almost all of them and in the end the exclusion of almost all of them.","PeriodicalId":30016,"journal":{"name":"Financial Theory and Practice","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2013-03-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"79454086","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The relationship between the stock market and foreign direct investment in Croatia: evidence from VAR and cointegration analysis","authors":"Vladimir Arčabić, Tomislav Globan, Irena Raguž","doi":"10.3326/FINTP.37.1.4","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3326/FINTP.37.1.4","url":null,"abstract":"The aim of this paper is to investigate the existence and characteristics of both the long- and short-term relationships between FDI and the stock market in Croatia. The main hypothesis is that, in the long run, trends in FDI should determine the movement of the stock market through the channel of economic growth. However, in the short run, upward movement on the stock market positively affects Croatian FDI stock, as events on the stock market signalize the vitality and investment climate of the domestic market to foreign investors. The long-term connection is tested by two cointegration approaches; the results of both models suggest the absence of a long-term relationship among observed variables, which may be explained by the lack of connection between FDI and economic growth in Croatia. The short-run relationship is investigated by a two-variable VAR model, and the results obtained are consistent with the theoretical assumptions, as the stock market did prove to be an important short-term determinant of FDI in Croatia.","PeriodicalId":30016,"journal":{"name":"Financial Theory and Practice","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2013-03-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"89515194","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"In)efficiency of corporate income tax expenditures on underdeveloped areas of special tax treatment in Croatia","authors":"Vjekoslav Bratić","doi":"10.3326/FINTP.36.4.3","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3326/FINTP.36.4.3","url":null,"abstract":"The introduction of various tax expenditures by the tax authorities, mostly in corporate income taxation (CIT), in order to kick start development in areas affected by the war as well as in economically underdeveloped areas has been characteristic of the Croatian tax system since 2000. Although the purpose of such forms of state aid was to foster economic development and equalize the level over the entire country, at the same time they caused forgone tax revenues and it is therefore necessary to analyze their advantages and disadvantages and evaluate their possible positive or negative effects. This paper deals with the analysis of tax expenditures in the system of CIT in Croatia and it investigates their effect on the budget and the possible advantages brought by their introduction. The main purpose of the paper is to answer the questions as to whether the expenditures that have been introduced in CIT justify their purpose and the goal of their introduction and what can be done to improve the existing CIT expenditures system.","PeriodicalId":30016,"journal":{"name":"Financial Theory and Practice","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2012-12-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"79401884","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Sign restriction approach to macro stress-testing of the Croatian banking system","authors":"N. Erjavec, Boris Cota, S. Jakšić","doi":"10.3326/FINTP/36.4.4","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3326/FINTP/36.4.4","url":null,"abstract":"The paper employs Uhlig’s sign restriction approach to stress-testing of the Croatian banking system. The analysis is based on a standard monetary VAR comprising real economic activity, inflation and short-term interest rates augmented by the ratio of non-performing loans or return on average equity, both measures representing the aggregate banking sector. In spite of the selected indicator, the results suggest a strong sensitivity of the Croatian banking sector to macroeconomic shocks. The effects are the strongest for contractionary monetary policy shocks, followed by negative demand shocks while the effects of supply shocks turned out to be statistically insignificant. Since Croatia is a small open economy with banking the dominant financial sector, the results obtained could be interesting for policy makers in Croatia and other transition economies with similar characteristics.","PeriodicalId":30016,"journal":{"name":"Financial Theory and Practice","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2012-12-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"87365461","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Local budget transparency: the case of 33 Croatian cities","authors":"Mihaela Bronić, Katarina Ott, I. Urban","doi":"10.3326/FINTP.36.4.2","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3326/FINTP.36.4.2","url":null,"abstract":"We measure budget transparency in 33 Croatian cities in 2010, investigating the quality of city budget information and the openness of the city budget process to the public. We construct and answer a questionnaire on the basis of which we calculate an Open City Budget Index (OCBI), as a general measure of the budget transparency for each city. We also carry out a survey among the representatives of executive and representative bodies and civil society organizations in the observed cities and among representatives in the Ministry of Finance. The general measure of budget transparency – the OCBI – in the analyzed cites is, on average, 65% (ranging from 82% to 45%), the main problems in most of the cities being related to the poor quality of data in the main local budget documents. The survey indicates that the process of exchange of local budget documents is not transparent enough.","PeriodicalId":30016,"journal":{"name":"Financial Theory and Practice","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2012-12-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"76316260","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Modelling local government unit credit risk in the Republic of Croatia","authors":"Petra Posedel, Marko Primorac","doi":"10.3326/FINTP.36.4.1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3326/FINTP.36.4.1","url":null,"abstract":"The objective of this paper is to determine possible indicators that affect local unit credit risk and investigate their effect on default (credit risk) of local government units in Croatia. No system for the estimation of local unit credit risk has been established in Croatia so far causing many practical problems in local unit borrowing. Because of the specific nature of the operations of local government units and legislation that does not allow local government units to go into bankruptcy, conventional methods for estimating credit risk are not applicable, and the set of standard potential determinants of credit risk has to be expanded with new indicators. Thus in the paper, in addition to the usual determinants of credit risk, the hypothesis of the influence of political factors on local unit credit risk in Croatia is also tested out, with the use of a Tobit model. Results of econometric analysis show that credit risk of local government units in Croatia is affected by the political structure of local government, the proportion of income tax and surtax in operating revenue, the ratio of net operating balance, net financial liabilities and direct debt to operating revenue, as well as the ratio of debt repayment and cash, and direct debt and operating revenue.","PeriodicalId":30016,"journal":{"name":"Financial Theory and Practice","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2012-12-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"81223280","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Tax expenditures and the efficiency of Croatian value added tax","authors":"Petar Sopek","doi":"10.3326/FINTP.36.3.3","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3326/FINTP.36.3.3","url":null,"abstract":"The main aim of this paper is to provide a systematic overview of value added taxation in Croatia along with main changes in relevant legislation and to estimate total amount of tax expenditures. Results show that the proportion of tax expenditures in GDP in Croatia in 2010 amounted to less than 4%, a proportion lower than in any of the EU new member states, as well as almost twice as low as the EU-27 average. It can be concluded that the Croatian value added taxation system is efficient in this way, as was additionally shown by an analysis according to which Croatia in 2010 had better efficiency indicators than all the observed EU member states. The Croatian VAT system is mainly harmonized with EU directives, but abolition of the zero rate is still expected; this will increase government revenue by approximately 0.4-0.8% of GDP, depending on a chosen scenario. It has been suggested that a detailed analysis of the overall value added taxation system should be initiated, with the aim of optimizing cost-benefits. The main focus should be placed on the determination of the optimal VAT registration threshold, the costs and benefits of the introduced reliefs and exemptions in the tax system and the potential effects of the repeal of the zero rate.","PeriodicalId":30016,"journal":{"name":"Financial Theory and Practice","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2012-09-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"85489261","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Effect of expenditures in personal income taxation on horizontal equity in Croatia","authors":"Hrvoje Šimović","doi":"10.3326/FINTP.36.3.2","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3326/FINTP.36.3.2","url":null,"abstract":"Tax expenditures include all reliefs and other tax procedures used for reducing or deducting the amount of tax that would otherwise have to be paid by taxpayers. There are many personal income tax expenditures in Croatia and they represent an important segment of the tax and social policies. This paper analyses the effect of expenditures in personal income taxation in Croatia on horizontal equity. Accordingly, the analysis has been made according to sources of income. The paper includes the period since 2001, when most reliefs that are still in effect were introduced into the personal income tax system. The analysis includes only those taxpayers who filed annual personal income tax returns, which is a precondition for acquiring most of the tax reliefs. The research findings show that tax reliefs significantly reduce the amount of taxable income, and the differences in the effective tax burden between the analyzed sources of income show that there is horizontal inequity in the personal income tax in Croatia.","PeriodicalId":30016,"journal":{"name":"Financial Theory and Practice","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2012-09-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"78964703","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Importance of theoretical value added tax for Croatia's fiscal capacity in the context of the European Union","authors":"I. Šutalo, Jadranka Vuglar, N. Ivandić","doi":"10.3326/FINTP.36.3.4","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3326/FINTP.36.3.4","url":null,"abstract":"The main purpose of this article is to assess Croatia’s fiscal capacity in 2007 by means of the National Accounts Supply and Use Tables (SUT) approach and its harmonisation with EU regulations. National fiscal capacity is important for assessing an EU member country’s contribution to the EU budget. Based on theoretical considerations and EU regulations, Croatia’s GDP expenditure components for 2004 were used for the approximation of Croatia’s theoretical value added tax (VAT) base and a weighted average VAT rate (WAVR). The harmonisation of Croatia’s intermediate VAT base with EU regulations was carried out using cash receipts from the Tax Authority, gross national income (GNI) and WAVR. If the theoretical VAT base of any EU member country is under 50% of GNI then it is used as a base for the calculation of country contribution to EU budget, otherwise it is capped at 50% of GNI. The results of this assessment show that Croatia’s harmonised 2007 VAT base is in the zone of capping and that Croatia’s WAVR is bigger than those of all but one of the 12 new EU member states, while a comparison of theoretical VAT to VAT net cash receipts indicates that there is room for upward revisions of GDP/GNI.","PeriodicalId":30016,"journal":{"name":"Financial Theory and Practice","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2012-09-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"84564976","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Slovenian income taxes and analysis of their tax expenditure in 2006-2010","authors":"Maja Klun","doi":"10.3326/FINTP.36.3.1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3326/FINTP.36.3.1","url":null,"abstract":"Tax expenditure analyses have been an important element in the supervision of reform processes linked to implementing different kinds of tax incentive and the management of a correct tax policy. The paper provides an evaluation of tax expenditure in Slovenia relating to personal income tax and corporate income tax. Four consecutive tax years were selected for the calculation of the tax expenditure on personal income tax (2006-09), while three consecutive years were selected for the corporate income tax calculation (2008-10). The tax expenditure calculated for personal income tax was highest in 2006 and reached 5.2% of GDP. After several changes in personal income tax, expenditures decreased to around 3% of GDP in the following three years. The tax expenditure calculated for corporate income tax was much lower as compared to GDP than for personal income tax, reaching around 0.2% of GDP.","PeriodicalId":30016,"journal":{"name":"Financial Theory and Practice","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2012-09-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"83569150","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}