WITH the Croatian government announcing a new five year income tax exemption scheme for returning Croatian citizens, a Sydney based App developer believes there has never been a better time for Australian Croats to pursue obtaining Croatian citizenship.
Nik Kraljević is an IT App developer who founded CitizenHR, a free platform designed to simplify the process of obtaining Croatian citizenship by making it cheaper and easier for users.
He believes the recent initiative by the Croatian Government, aimed at luring back its citizens living abroard, is a no brainer.
“In general, it’s a great idea by the Croatian Government to give people some incentives to come back to Croatia,” said Kraljević.
“Many people would love to come back or relocate their business in many cases, but working out the taxation etc is a hurdle for many coming back, particularly from Australia,” he added.
Users start by signing up on the CitizenHR platform and completing a questionnaire to assess their eligibility.
The platform then provides users with available options for obtaining citizenship based on their answers.
“If there is a five year break on taxation, it gives them time to get established, work everything out and contribute to Croatia as they go,” explained Kraljević.
According to the CitizenHR founder, member states of the European Union – Croatia included – are currently suffering from a massive ‘brain drain’, driven in part due to issues such as high taxation.
“I’m really happy to see Croatia is reversing the trend by giving people who come back a tax break for five years,” said Kraljević.
“If Croatia encourages people to come back and lets them have some time to get set up I can see some real opportunities for Croatia.
Croatia has a huge diaspora population with skills and networks, they love Croatia and all of this could all benefit Croatia by luring them back by getting a skilled workforce who are passionate about the country and invested in its long term success.
In a global sense, Kraljević claims the Croatian passport is becoming an even more valuable document.
“Depending on what index you follow, it’s either the fifth most valuable passport, or the ninth, most valuable passport in the world. Either way, it is considered in the top 10 worldwide,” he stated.
There are immense opportunities for aspiring young sportspeople who are dual passport holders.
“There are huge sporting opportunities for young sportspeople with a dual passport, especially for footballers, as they can potentially play in some of the most competitive leagues in Europe without facing visa (import) restrictions etc,” revealed Kraljević.
To download the CitizenHR app, click on the following link: https://citizenhr.app
