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Post by rijekafan on Dec 18, 2007 12:48:52 GMT 1
Hi guys,
I am having a nightmare with the Raifeissen bank. I am praying that you guys will know what to do.
I sold my flat and the money is in my personal account. The bank says that I cant send the money to my account in Oz due to Croatian law. They told my accountant I could put the money in her bank but it would cost 300 euros per 20 000 Euros withdrawn. All I want to do send my money home without being crucified. Has anyone heard of this law, does anyone know how I can get my money home without transferring it to my accountants bank. This sounds insane. How do Croats buy things overseas?
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Post by Carol on Dec 18, 2007 15:37:09 GMT 1
not an answer, just soem suggestions:-
1. are they saying Croatian law forbids the movement of money abroad or just to Australia.
2. or is that you need to give HNB 8 days notice of the withdrawal? Sometimes they don't explain themselvs well
3. If it is just Australia, then ask if you can send your money to the Uk instead and create an account with a FX company (e.g moneycorp or halo financial). Then send your money there, get it converted into AUD and sent onto Oz.
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Post by rijekafan on Dec 18, 2007 16:00:09 GMT 1
Hi
Thanks Carol.
They say that I cannot send money anywhere overseas from my personal account. If I put the money into my business account there are tax implications but it looks like the only way. I have to justify where I am sending the money to and persuade the . MOF not to tax me more.
At the moment I am looking at sending it to my Dads account and saying its a loan repayment.
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Post by Carol on Dec 18, 2007 16:03:17 GMT 1
or you could put it into your business account as a shareholder loan and then repay it the following day.
That's a bit strange though. What about the free movement of capital?
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Post by Carol on Dec 18, 2007 16:06:32 GMT 1
one more thought: is the money in kuna or euros? I came up against RBA recently about this where they couldn't get their heads around kuna arriving into the country. They said it could only be euros (not true). Maybe they've got the same problem in reverse?
Or ask another bank what they would do and if they make it easier, then open a new foreigners currency account there instead.
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Post by rijekafan on Dec 18, 2007 16:08:41 GMT 1
Hi,
I did not declare my Dad as a shareholder with the Narodna Novina so it will have to be a loan repayment I think. The point is there is no freedom of movement in capital. Plus the bank charging me 300 euros to take my money out, its unbelievable. I thought nothing in this country would surprise me. How wrong I was.
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Post by rijekafan on Dec 18, 2007 16:19:41 GMT 1
Hi,
The money is in Euros so there should be no prob. I have 4 accounts, a kuna and a Forex account for my personal and business stuff.
I am in Australia now and I cant open a new account with another bank. When I do get back to HR they will charge me like a wounded bull to withdraw my funds and close my account. How I hate RBA.
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Post by Carol on Dec 18, 2007 17:09:52 GMT 1
I've just read through a pdf written i think by the EU about Croatia's alignment with the EU's freedom of movement of capital legislation. ec.europa.eu/enlargement/pdf/croatia/screening_reports/screening_report_04_hr_internet_en.pdfWhat RBA is claiming is huge and should be mentioned soemwhere but its not. Basically it says that Croatia is already in line with EU policy on most things and where its not, many will be fixed in croatian law by end Dec 07, with the remaining major outstanding points in Feb 08. The things beign done in Feb 08 are more about Croatian citizens being allowed to move their investments out of Croatia so does not relate to you. I still think that the bank has got it wrong. |
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Post by mambo on Dec 18, 2007 19:49:16 GMT 1
I agree with Carol, I have also never heard of this law or rule RBA claims it exists. A phone call to the Croatian National Bank should answer that question or otherwise ask RBA to show you that particular law. They claim it exists, so they can also tell you where it is written.
Perhaps RBA can explain you how you would have to pay a bill from e.g. a furniture store, a car dealer etc in Italy, Germany etc. You don't have the obligation to buy in this country, but it has to be possible to pay a company if you buy stuff from them. Now they charge you 1,5 % and that is a bit outrageous.
About the other points/options:
You cannot turn it into a loan since foreigners (as in private persons) cannot borrow any money to a Croatian company.
If the money is now in your private account it will be impossible to get it transferred to a company account. You would need to write a bill for some service, charge pdv etc and in the end you will have to pay profit tax.
If it is in your private account you can try to get a credit card on that account and then spend it via that card. But I am sure they will have a nice charge for that one as well.
If it is possible to transfer the whole amount to a bank, which lets you move it abroad for a normal fee I think I would pay the 300 euro and cut my losses.
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Post by rijekafan on Dec 18, 2007 23:18:49 GMT 1
Thanks Mambo. My acountant will ring the HNB and check the law but charging me 300 euros to withdraw 20 000 euros is criminal I need to repatriate 70 000 euros total so the sum becomes enormous. STAY AWAY FROM RBA
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Post by Sasha on Dec 20, 2007 13:31:25 GMT 1
Yes, and RBA is Austrian bank!
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Post by valiant on Dec 20, 2007 23:14:52 GMT 1
nothing surprises me anymore...now we can all see why foreign banks are coming to croatia. ...to rip the shirts off our backs...not to mention..get to the realestate. they have the same mentality that owners of retirement homes have. the world is heading up crap creek. thats why im planing to become independant of all that crap.electricity has gone up(because our govt wants to sell electra croatia)!!! and the price of food has gone up ( and our politicians still mercilessly import food )!!!!theyve sold the entire coastline!!! theyve brought in foreign banks to get to our money and realestate!!!gas is going up!!! petrol will definately go over the 8 kuna margin eventhough we have our own oil! but the worst thing of all is that despite everything...unemployment is rising!!! and pays are not going up!!! in most cases local "sherrifs" run private businesses and terrorise their workers!!! unemployment figures dont seem that bad ...because the long term unemployed dont have to register at the unemployment biro anymore to get their healthcare!!!!(has anyone noticed that)!!!  shifty ay? tax payers are paying for the long term unemployed so that our politicans can have a free for all smorgasboard at the cost of keeping it all calm and quit and the tax payers hungry. politcs in croatia is too dirty and too scumy. do they have any morals at all?? instead of banks coming to cro ..they shouldhave motivated foreign companies to invest , create jobs, produce, pay taxes and employ croatians!!!!they also should provide homegrown businesses with tax cuts for atleast 5 years. ---opening and running a business in croatia is a nightmare...you need a million euros on the side just to feel safe.closing a firm makes you wish you never thought of opening one in croatia. |
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Post by darcy on Dec 20, 2007 23:59:07 GMT 1
Sorry to hear about your problems, riekafan, but it is not only your bank's fault. I do not know what is your legal status is CRO, but if you are a resident you can't move more then 3K EUR without notifying the Reserve Bank. If you are non-resident (like me), I do not even try. The fee itself is really high, but you should be in CRO to shop around.
If you move your money from your business account, you should be able to freely move much more. People usually do that in a form of "purchase abroad – eg. legal or consultant services" (and pay tax abroad) rather then a "dividend".
If you are able to exchange kunas to the other currencies in Croatia, that does not mean kuna is a convertible currency and its exchange rate is determined by the strength of the Reserve Bank in Croatia thru its administrative power based in Croatian law rather then the currency market.
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Post by rijekafan on Dec 21, 2007 6:19:21 GMT 1
Thanks for the tip darcy. I think my accountant had something like that in mind. I have a company so I must work within those rules.
Although I have to deal with insane HNB rules, its's the RBA charges that really infuriatate me. BTW instead of a normal secure internet banking account, they issue you with a stupid little keypad and charge you for it. You must have the keypad to log on. Also if you close down your account they charge you heaps.
Allowing the banks of the former Axis powers to colonise Croatia is a depressing rerun of 1000 years of Croatia's colonial history. I believe the community banking model is the best for Croatia. Bendigo Bank in Australia is a good example of this model. Croatian Credit Unions around the world have operated for decades.
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Post by rijekafan on Dec 21, 2007 6:29:06 GMT 1
I am not sure if I mentioned it but the funds I am trying to transfer are after company tax. Its pretty easy to get money into Croatia but they try to make it as difficult as possible to take out via electronic means.
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shifty ay? tax payers are paying for the long term unemployed so that our politicans can have a free for all smorgasboard at the cost of keeping it all calm and quit and the tax payers hungry. politcs in croatia is too dirty and too scumy. do they have any morals at all??