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Post by swordfish on Jun 13, 2013 8:33:46 GMT 1
When Croatia is in the EU will it be or is it possible to have monies from the sale of a property paid directly into the UK or do you have to have it paid into a bank account here in Croatia? (Haven't seen the book keeper about this yet). Any knowledge or experience would be appreciated.
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Post by swordfish on Jun 16, 2013 7:35:27 GMT 1
January,so what you are saying company through the company account, private sale where you like?
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Post by Carol on Jun 20, 2013 10:25:36 GMT 1
It used to be that if you sold within 3 years of owning privately, then you had to pay capital gains tax on the difference between what you bought it for and what you sold it at with no deduction for fees or money spent on upgrading etc - 35% is the amount I have in my head but its so long ago that i could be wrong or it may have changed.
The issue was though how to determine the exact date that you became the owner and could start counting the 3 years from? Was it the date of the purchase contract? Or the date on the document from the ex-owner saying all money had been paid (if there was one)? Or the date from which the land registry finally processed the paperwork - this has taken well over a year sometimes? Maybe it could even be the date on which the katastar was updated?? I never got a definitive answer on that question so it seemed to me that it was open to interpretation by whichever official was Processing the calculation on whether you owed tax and how much.
By the way its not the price on your sale contract that counts in this calculation - its the price that the tax officer estimates the value of the property at the time of sale. This is to avoid tax evasion through part cash-in-hand/ part contract deals.
Companies didn't have capital gains tax but they do have profit tax which always used to be 20%. Obviously all costs are taken into account when calculating profit and there isn't a time limit.
I haven't heard that any of this has changed, but it might have and I wouldn't know about it.
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Post by Carol on Jun 20, 2013 10:36:19 GMT 1
As to where sales proceeds can be paid, then obviously if a company is selling some asset then its the company who must be paid by the buyer (and that means the money into the company account).
If its a private sale, then theoretically the money should be able to be paid anywhere BUT we came up against this again and again in the agency and it presented endless problems with buyers feeling uncomfortable about sending money to an account abroad (especially if it wasn't even in the seller's name!). Also the notaries weren't always willing to do their part in these circumstances.
Whenever money got sent to a Croatian bank, however, the bank would convert it into kuna, unless it already was in kuna. Obviously they would charge commission on the conversion and the exchange rate would mean that the seller could not convert the money back into euros and get what their contract said they should receive. I shudder when i remember how every time we had to get the parties to agree who would make up this difference....
Seller: "We agreed €100k but I only received €99,500. You owe me another €500. Until you give me €500 I will not sign over the house to you. You are trying to cheat me!"
Buyer: "I agreed to pay €100k and I paid that. Now you are asking for another €500. It is not my fault you live in Croatia and have these rules. I am not paying. Give me the house that I paid for. How dare you call me a cheat! You are a cheat!!"
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Post by swordfish on Jun 21, 2013 6:46:27 GMT 1
Thanks Carol for the info. Like everything else we have encountered it's a big mind field depending on which official you get. Make it up as you go along!(and see a stress management councilor each week!!!)
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Post by Carol on Jun 21, 2013 14:20:32 GMT 1
I don'[t think that's right, January. True, you can set up a foreign currency account which can simultaneously hold euros, sterling, dollars etc but you cannot have the proceeds of the sale of a Croatian property paid into that account without the money being in kuna first.
People try this and sometimes they get away with it because the bank does not notice (so make sure the sender of the money doesn't mention the property in the description line). However, if the bank staff notice, then the money gets turned into kuna and if you do don't have a kuna account then one gets opened for you there and then.
The market standard is to advertise in euros and agree the price in euros but the law is that the sale must take place in kuna.
Believe me, this was the bane of my life for a while and I tried every which way to work out a solution that suited everyone that I'd be able to use again and again. The best thing I found was to agree the exchange rate at the time of the negotiations for the sale and put it in the contract. However, it wasn't perfect and the whole issue caused more tension than everything else put together unless either the buyer or the seller were exceptionally understanding.
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Post by amatesic on Jul 4, 2013 15:12:28 GMT 1
No you cannot have the money paid into a foreign bank account .... sorry.
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