Tax Treaty Case Law around the Globe 2022

Hrvoje Arbutina

23.1. Introduction

Croatian tax treaty case law has been, so far, scarce. Besides that, the tax administration authorities and administrative courts of both instances are more than reluctant to publish, already rare, decisions on the matter. However, some cases emerge occasionally. One of them, the case to be analysed in this chapter, seemed, at first glance, not very complicated and rather routine. It seemed to be the simple question of residence of an individual, in the context of the application of article 15 of the Croatia-Czech Republic Income and Capital Tax Treaty (1999). Such a “light” approach was based on the fact that residence status of the individual involved was easy to establish, and article 15 – which all parties to the dispute had been focused on – seemed to be the right choice of the provision to be applied. The analysis of the case follows the reasoning of those involved, i.e. their legal actions. However, there is (properly) a twist at the end, although nothing an informed reader would not spot even much earlier in the text.

In the analysed case, the Croatian tax administration showed a worrying lack of competence, at least when it comes to applica...