The recently enacted Foreigners Act introduces digital nomad visas, a hot topic nowadays. The Act will enter into force on 1 January 2021. Digital nomads are people who work online and only need a laptop and high-speed internet connection. Starting next year, they will be able to obtain a visa which allows them to work and live in Croatia for one year. The idea behind visas for digital nomads is quite simple – digital nomads are relatively high-earners and they like to travel and move around. Their spending and VAT as well as local businesses’ revenue and corporate tax can generate budget income. Croatia, being one of most popular touristic destinations in the world, is seeing its opportunity here and is trying to attract the digital nomads to come to Croatia, a relatively affordable EU country with a nice lifestyle. With the visas, Croatia solved the first bureaucratic problem for accepting the digital nomads. To get it fully operational, the tax framework for the digital nomads was introduced through the Act on Amendments to the Income Tax Act. The Income Tax Act now contains a provision that excludes the digital nomads from local incometax taxation, aimed at boosting the digital nomad numbers in Croatia. D.S.B., I.B.Z.
