The article presents the overview of the new provisions in the systems of profit tax, income tax and contributions, which in the corresponding amendments to the existing regulations became effective on 1 March 2012. Accordingly, the article provides a short comment on these amendments and the way of their application in everyday activities of tax payers. The changed regulations referring to income tax have not resulted in the decrease but the increase of taxes, at least for the majority of employees, due to the fact that the tax classes have been reduced, which has led to the tax progression with the increased non-taxable part of the salary, the so-called personal exemption. The system of profit tax has introduced the possibility of re-investments in a particular way, which means that the tax base may be reduced by the part of the current profit by which the share capital of the company is increased. However, the greatest attention is paid to the introduced taxation of the payment of profit (dividend) and share in profit based on the share in the capital of a company to the domestic physical persons and non-residents and the physical and legal persons as the so-called tax upon exemption.
According to the Act on Amendments to the VAT Act the basic value added tax rate has been changed from 23% to 25%. The value added tax rate of 10%, which was 23%, is to be applied on vegetable and animal edible oils and greases, children’s food, processed food based on cereals for babies and small children, water supply (except the bottled water or the water is some other packaging) and white sugar produced from sugar-cane or sugar-beet. The above stated Act determines the total limitation of the deduction of the pre-paid tax for purchase or charter of vessels for the purpose of entertainment, aircraft, automobiles and other means of transportation for personal use, including the purchase of all the goods and services regarding these goods. The corresponding provisions become effective on 1 March, 2012. The reduced VAT rate of 10% on the services of preparation and serving of food in catering facilities, including the preparation and serving of non-alcoholic drinks and bevarages, wine and beer becomes effective on 1 January, 2013. On this date the provisions regarding the the lowest amount of income necessary for the company to be entered into the register of VAT payers totalling 230,000.00 HRK becomes effective, as well as the amount of 800,000.00 HRK for determination of the three-months accounting period.
The reprogramming of tax debts, i.e. the measures of collecting tax debts caused by the economic crisis, enable the companies to continue their business operations and to avoid bankruptcy procedure. They have a quick respite under the circumstances of the high inliquidity, when the mutual non-payment of liabilities has almost become the rule, not the exception. Through the reprogramming of the debt the State as a creditor helps to overwhelm the crisis in business operations and provides thus a substantial contribution to the anti-recession measures.
The legal base of the German profit tax is determined by the Act on Taxation of Legal Persons. Besides this Act, the taxation of the legal persons is defined by the Directive on Profit Tax and the Guidelines of the Profit Tax (2004), which analyze the dubious issues and explain the specific provisions of the Act on Taxation of Legal Persons, which are in accordance with the German Constitution. The Guidelines are obligatory rules for the employees at the German Tax Administration. They are aimed at the unique application of the Act on Taxation of Legal Persons, but they are not obligatory for tax payers. The court practice of the Federal Finance Court (Bundesfinanzhof) is important for the application of the provisions, which is obligatory for the parties in the particular court process, but can eventually include the Guidelines of the Profit Tax.
The Croatian legal system provides two forms of participating of a number of persons in the ownership right: a co-ownership and a common ownership. A co-ownership represents the participating of a number of persons in the co-ownership right of the same object, whereby each co-owner has a part of the co-ownership right of such an object, which has been calculated in ratio to the entire ownership right. A common ownership as a form of participating of a number of persons in the ownership right exists only under certain presumptions determined by law. The dissolution of co-ownership is performed according to the provisions of the Ownership Act and other property rights. Specific acts determine the rules on establishment and dissolution of the co-ownership, including the rights and obligations of co-owners, which substantially differ from the rules stated in the Ownership Act and other property rights.
Autor: Dr. sc. Ljiljana MATUŠKO ANTONIĆ , dipl. iur.
In this part the author of the article analyzes the issue of the general assembly of the share holding company as the obligatory organ of a share holding company, established according to the dualistic structure of the organs. The article presents in an interesting and detailed way the issues regarding the minutes of the general assembly meeting and the right to being informed, as well as the issues regarding the right to vote at the general assembly meeting and the consequences of violating the rights to call the general assembly.
The article stresses the importance of the institute of contestation of the legal acts of the debtor in order to protect the creditor. In the first part of the article published in the last issue of this magazine the authors presented a detailed overview of the relevant legal sources from the omparative law and the Croatian law regarding this institute, and explained its legal nature. In this part the authors present the general and specific presumptions for the contestation of the legal acts of the debtor out of bankruptcy procedure. The last part will deal with the legal consequences (effects) of the contestation and the specifics of the Croatian regulations regarding the institute of the passive process legitimacy.
Autori: Dr. sc. Gabrijela MIHELČIĆ , dipl. iur. Dr. sc. Loris BELANIĆ, dipl. iur.
The Act on Deadlines of Fulfilment of Cash Liabilities, which became effective on 1 January 2012, determines the deadlines of fulfilment of cash liabilities and the penal legal consequences of its undue settlement. The Act defines the acts of the companies when they sign mutual contracts and the companies and the persons of the public law when they sign the contracts, including the minimum deadlines of payment, which such entities may contract. If the contract parties do not agree on the deadlines of payment between themselves, the cash liabilities are to be fulfiled according to the above stated Act. The author of the text explains the application of this Act regarding various ways of completion of cash liabilities determined by the Distraint Act.
The provisions of the Labour Act define the issues regarding the termination of employment also in the case when the employer terminates the contract on employment and proposes to the employee a new contract on employment under the changed conditions. In the case of the termination of employment with an offer of the changed contract on employment under the changed conditions the employee is obliged to accept or reject it within the deadline determined by the employer. The deadline must not be shorter than 8 days. If the employee accepts the above stated contract offered by the employer, he/she reservs the right to dispute the allowability of such termination of employment at the competent court. In the case of rejection of the offer and termination of employment the term of 15 days for making a claim for protection of the rights starts on the date when the employee rejected the contract on employment under the changed conditions or on the date of the agreement or disagreement with the new contract determined by the employer, if the employee has not stated his/her opinion on the received offer or has stated his/her opinion after the expiration of the set date.
In view of the new regulations regarding the general administrative procedure and the administrative dispute in the Republic of Croatia the article presents the valid rules referring to the protection of the citizens and other legal entities from the inactivity of the management in the specific administrative cases. The most important activity of the management, besides the application of the Act on General Administrative Procedure, is making the individual decisions (solutions, administrative enactments) according to which the public legal bodies decide on the right, obligation or the legal interests of the parties in the specific legal case. The basic provisions of the Act on General Administrative Procedure determine the right of the party to the legal remedy if the public administrative body did not solve the administrative case within the set deadline.
The author of the article presents and gives comments on the contents of the scholarship contract with minors in sports, which is in many points different than the pure scholarship contracts with students, academic or scientific scholarship contracts. According to the general definition a scholoarship in sports is the form of the financial aid, an initiating and motivating factor, which is granted in order to achieve sports results and represents a kind of the reward for fulfilment of the contractual obligations. The above stated scholarship contracts do not exclude one another, due to the fact that one physical person may be a contract party in a number or contracts signed usually with legal persons.
The author of the text presents his comments on the constitutional and legal determination of the constitutionality and legality and the problems of constitutionality and legality under the present legal and social circumstances. The author explains how such issues are determined by the Constitution of the Republic of Croatia.
Golden shares give special rights or powers to the State or other public organs in privatised public companies. They provide certain control of the State in these companies which perform business activities in electricity services, gas and water supply, railway and public transportation, postal services and telecommunications. Golden shares deviate from the application of the one share – one vote principle and endanger free movement of capital in the European Union. Their implementation in the member states was examined by the European Court. The Court established the criteria for application of golden share and their compatibility with the freedom of movement of capital. The Thirteenth Directive on Takeover Bids envisaged the application of the breakthrough rule in takeover procedures, which is not applicable on golden shares. The Republic of Croatia envisaged golden shares in the privatization acts of certain public companies (Croatian Telecommunications (HT), Oil Industry (INA), Croatian Electricity Company (HEP)).