Good to know
Good to Know
- You do not need a Croatian business partner or local director to incorporate — 100% foreign ownership is permitted for both d.o.o. and j.d.o.o. structures.
- Get your OIB (tax ID number) sorted first — almost every later step (notary, bank account, tax registration) requires it, and it's issued in 1–3 working days at a local Tax Administration office.
- If you don't speak Croatian, you'll need to bring a certified court interpreter to the notary appointment — budget for this extra cost and arrange it in advance since not all interpreters are available on short notice.
- The j.d.o.o. (mini-LLC) is far cheaper to set up (nominal EUR 10 share capital) but is capped at three members — many nomads start here and convert to a full d.o.o. later if the business grows.
- Opening the corporate bank account, not the court registration itself, is usually the real bottleneck for foreign founders — start that conversation with a bank early.
- Croatia uses the euro (EUR) as its currency nationwide, including in Split, so no separate local-currency conversion is needed for business banking.
- The paušalni obrt (flat-rate sole trader) route is popular with digital nomads because it avoids the need for a bookkeeper, but it stops being available once your annual income crosses the VAT/flat-rate ceiling — plan ahead if your income is growing.
- Non-EU citizens generally need an existing residence/stay permit that allows self-employment before they can register an obrt; a d.o.o. has fewer immigration-status prerequisites for the company itself, though the founder/director will still need appropriate residency to live and work in Split long-term.
- Because corporate tax is a national (not Split-specific) rule, moving your registered business address to a different Croatian city would not change your CIT rate — but it can matter for other city-level fees.
VAT
- Standard Rate Percent
- 25
- Name Local
- PDV (porez na dodanu vrijednost)
- B2b EU Clients
- 0% VAT via the reverse-charge mechanism when invoicing VAT-registered EU business clients (client self-accounts for VAT in their own country).
- Registration Threshold
- €60,000
Threshold under which a small business (obrt or company) is not required to register for VAT; voluntary earlier registration is possible, e.g. to reclaim input VAT or deal with VAT-registered clients.
- B2c Note
- Selling digital services/goods to EU private individuals is subject to Croatian VAT up to a small annual threshold, after which the EU One-Stop-Shop (OSS) scheme typically applies.
Reduced Rates Percent
- 13
- 5
Corporate Income Tax
- System
- two-tier corporate income tax (CIT / 'porez na dobit')
- Residency Basis
- Croatian-resident companies (including a Split-registered d.o.o.) are taxed on worldwide profit; a non-resident company's Croatian branch/permanent establishment is taxed only on Croatia-source profit.
Filing
- Form
- Profit Tax Return (Form PD), filed electronically via the e-Porezna portal (requires a digital certificate)
- Deadline
- Within 4 months after the end of the tax period (calendar year for most companies, so typically by end of April)
- Advance Payments
- No monthly CIT advance payments are required in the company's first year; from the second year onward, monthly advances are due, calculated from the prior year's return
Reduced Rate
- Rate Percent
- 10
- Applies To
- Companies (d.o.o., j.d.o.o.) with annual revenue up to the threshold below
- Revenue Threshold
- €1,000,000
Standard Rate
- Rate Percent
- 18
- Applies To
- Companies with annual revenue above the threshold above
Structure Options For A Foreigner
DOO LLC
- Taxation
- Corporate income tax as above (10% up to €1M revenue, 18% above), plus a separate withholding/dividend tax if profit is distributed to owners as dividends rather than salary.
- Liability
- Limited to the capital invested in the company.
- What It Is
- Društvo s ograničenom odgovornošću (d.o.o.) — Croatia's standard limited liability company, the most common vehicle for foreign-owned businesses.
- Admin Burden
- Requires ongoing double-entry bookkeeping and typically a professional accountant; more paperwork than an obrt but scalable and generally viewed as more credible by banks, larger clients, and EU partners.
- Minimum Capital
- €2,500
- Foreign Ownership
- 100% foreign ownership is permitted; no local partner is required.
Obrt Sole Trader
- Liability
- Unlimited personal liability — the owner's personal assets are exposed to business debts.
- What It Is
- A craft/sole-trader registration (obrt) under Croatia's Crafts Act, letting one person run a business without forming a company.
- Administration
- Requires bookkeeping and generally an accountant once above the flat-rate (paušalni) option's income limit.
- Minimum Capital
- None required.
- Eligibility For Foreigners
- EU/EEA/Swiss nationals can register directly. Non-EU (third-country) nationals need a valid residence/stay permit that legally permits self-employed activity before registering.
Taxation
- Lower Rate Percent
- 20
- Higher Rate Percent
- 30
- Threshold For Higher Rate
- €50,400
- Regime
- Personal (progressive) income tax, not corporate tax
JDOO Simplified LLC
- Taxation
- Same corporate income tax rules as a d.o.o. (10%/18%).
- What It Is
- Jednostavno društvo s ograničenom odgovornošću (j.d.o.o.) — a simplified/starter version of the d.o.o.
- Restrictions
- Profits must largely be retained as legal reserves until the company builds up capital equivalent to a standard d.o.o.; less flexible for profit distribution than a full d.o.o.
- Minimum Capital
- €1.00
Pausalni Obrt Flat Rate Option
- What It Is
- A simplified flat-rate tax regime available to sole traders (obrt) below a revenue ceiling — the most common starting structure for solo freelancers/digital nomads.
- Admin Burden
- No formal bookkeeping or mandatory accountant — the owner just keeps a simple income/expense log (knjiga prometa) and files one annual form. Below the VAT threshold, invoices are issued VAT-free.
- Tax Treatment
- Fixed/flat income tax paid in quarterly installments (rate and exact euro amount depend on annual receipts tier) rather than tax on actual profit margin.
- Revenue Ceiling
- €60,000
- When It Stops Applying
- Must switch to a standard obrt or a company once annual income exceeds the ceiling, or if VAT registration becomes required.
- Monthly Contributions Example
- €291
Incorporation Process And Requirements
- Jurisdiction Note
- Company incorporation in Croatia is a national (not city-specific) legal process, but a founder based in Split would use the local notary offices, FINA/HITRO.HR counter, and the Commercial Court in Split (Trgovački sud u Splitu), which covers the Split-Dalmatia region.
Realistic Timeline
- Main Bottleneck
- Corporate bank account opening for foreign-owned companies is consistently flagged as the slowest and least predictable step, since Croatian banks apply their own KYC/AML review independent of the court registration timeline.
- Full Operational Setup
- Most sources agree that being fully operational — including OIB issuance, notarization, court registration, statistics-office classification, tax registration, and a working corporate bank account — realistically takes about 2 to 4 weeks for a foreign founder, assuming documents (passports, any apostilled/translated foreign paperwork) are ready in advance.
- Court Registration Only
- As little as 2 working days once complete, correctly notarized documentation is submitted electronically (per official guidance), though a few days to about a week is common in practice.
Core Incorporation Steps
- 1. Check and reserve a company name via the Court Registry (Sudski registar) website — the name must be in Croatian/Latin script (or another EU/EEA official language in Latin script) and clearly distinct from existing registered names.
- 2. Obtain an OIB (Croatian personal tax ID number) for every founder and director. Foreign individuals apply in person at a local Tax Administration (Porezna uprava) office with a valid passport; it is typically issued within one to three working days.
- 3. Visit a notary public (javni bilježnik) to notarize the founding documents (articles of association / memorandum). All founders must be personally present with a passport (foreign citizens); if a founder doesn't speak Croatian, a certified court interpreter must also be present.
- 4. Pay the minimum share capital and court registration fees at FINA or a HITRO.HR office (a government one-stop service that channels the application to the Commercial Court).
- 5. The notary or HITRO.HR forwards the notarized application electronically to the competent Commercial Court. If documentation is complete and submitted electronically, the court registers the company quickly — official guidance cites entry within about 2 working days electronically, or up to 5 days if paper-based.
- 6. Within 15 days of the court's incorporation decision, register the company's business activity classification with the Croatian Bureau of Statistics (DZS).
- 7. Open a permanent business bank account and transfer the previously-deposited share capital from the temporary account into it; banks apply their own KYC/AML checks, which can take longer for non-resident/foreign-owned structures.
- 8. Register with the Tax Administration (for corporate income tax and VAT if applicable), the pension insurance institute (HZMO), and the health insurance institute (HZZO).
Typical All In Cost Estimate
- D O O Min Share Capital
- €2,500
- J D O O Min Share Capital
- €10
- Additional Costs To Expect
- Certified translation of any foreign documents into Croatian by a court translator, and a court interpreter's fee at the notary if a founder doesn't speak Croatian, are common extra costs not included in the fees above.
- Court Registry Entry Fee J D O O
- €0.00
- Notary And Incorporation Fees D O O
- €450
- Notary And Incorporation Fees J D O O
- €75
- Note
- Figures below are the government/notary-side costs; using a lawyer or formation agency to manage the process typically adds a separate service fee on top.
Official Government Resources
Local Partner Or Sponsor Requirement
- Summary
- No Croatian co-founder, local shareholder, or sponsor is legally required for a foreigner to incorporate. Croatia's official investment promotion agency confirms foreign investors set up companies under the same conditions as Croatian citizens.
- Ownership
- Foreign individuals or foreign companies can own 100% of a Croatian d.o.o. or j.d.o.o. There is no general requirement for a Croatian shareholder or director.
- Note On Conflicting Claim
- One older commercial legal-services source references a pre-2012 rule requiring at least three Croatian citizens as co-founders if a non-EU citizen wants to act as director. This appears outdated and is contradicted by the current official government guidance, which states no such local-partner requirement exists. We have followed the official government source.
Company Types Available To Foreigners
D.o.o. (Standard Limited Liability Company)
- Min Share Capital
- €2,500
- Notes
- Most common structure for foreign founders; full liability protection; can have any number of shareholders/directors of any nationality.
J.d.o.o. (Simple/mini Limited Liability Company)
- Min Share Capital
- €10
- Notes
- Simplified, cheaper, faster-to-register version limited to a maximum of three members and a one-person management board; can later be converted into a full d.o.o.; since 2019 can be opened online via the government's START system using FINA's digital certificate, which is available to foreigners.
Scope Note
Croatian business taxation is set at the national level (not by the City of Split), so these rules apply identically to a company or sole trader based in Split.
Withholding Tax
- Non Cooperative Jurisdiction Rate Percent
- 25
- General Note
- Croatia levies withholding tax on certain outbound payments (dividends, interest, royalties, service fees) to non-residents; the applicable rate can be reduced under a double-tax treaty (Croatia has treaties with 60+ countries) or EU directives.
Practical Takeaway
For a solo remote worker or freelancer with modest income, the paušalni obrt is the lightest-admin route (no accountant needed) but carries personal liability and locks out once income passes the €60,000 ceiling. For anyone billing larger amounts, wanting limited liability, hiring staff, or needing a structure EU clients/banks take more seriously, a d.o.o. (or its cheaper j.d.o.o. variant) is the standard choice, at the cost of mandatory bookkeeping and an accountant.
AI-generated estimateData refreshed July 2026
Sources cited for this category
These are the sources cited in this business permits & incorporation for foreigners research for this city. Individual figures may not each trace to one of them.
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Data last updated July 2026 · Verify anything important.