About Buyers

Real estate in the Republic of Croatia can be purchased by any citizen of Croatia. Certificate of Croatian Citizenship, a Passport or personal identification card can all be used as form of proof of citizenship.

Foreign citizens can also acquire property in Croatia in one of the two ways:

1. Foreigners can register a company in Croatia and buy a property through that company. Considering that such company is headquartered in Croatia no special permission from Ministry of Justice is needed for buying of property. Initial share capital for establishing a company is 20,000.00 kn (approximately 2,750 Euro), and theses funds can be used immediately for payment of expenses.

2. Foreigners can obtain approval from Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Croatia (Official National Gazzette No. 79/06), which has competency to approve or reject applications of foreign individuals and legal persons to own real estate in Croatia. Permission is granted to citizens of countries that entered into a special reciprocity agreement with the Republic of Croatia, and in some special cases permission is granted to citizens of other countries. The procedure for acquiring property is as follows: After signing a Real estate purchase contract the application is submitted to the Ministry of Justice in Zagreb along with all accompanying documentation. After obtaining an approval a foreign citizen must transfer ownership to his or her name, i.e. submit a sales contract to land registry office housed within competent County Court and tax authority, and pay tax appertaining to it.

About Sellers

Sellers of property in the Republic of Croatia can be all domestic and foreign legal persons and individuals.

About Documentation

Under the sale contract a seller is obligated to hand over to the buyer a thing he is selling so that a buyer acquires ownership right, and the buyer is obligated to pay seller a rice (article. 454/1 ZOO). When entering into a sale contract seller's signature has to be verified, and buyer's signature does not have to be verified. Sales contract can be verified abroad, i.e. in Croatian Embassy or Consulate. If the Contract is verified at the Office of the Notary Public then it has to be translated into Croatian language by authorized legal Court interpreter.

Payment of obligations

Real estate purchase tax in the Republic of Croatia is paid by the buyer and it amounts to 5% that applies to the contractual price and/or based on the estimate of authorized tax administration in the area where the real estate is located. Seller does not pay tax on sale of real estate, unless the sale was made prior to expiration of three years from purchase date. In that case seller must pay tax that applies to the difference between purchase and sale price. Buyer is obligated to report tax to the authorized tax administration and buyer must pay tax within 15 days from delivery of the deicision of tax administration.