HRating: Should private renters pay higher taxes?

The HRejting survey was published on HRT last night, which dealt with the issue of taxes in private accommodation. The survey included 1.100 respondents, and under...

Author  Goran Rihelj

22. April 2023.

The HRejting survey was published on HRT last night, which dealt with the issue of taxes in private accommodation.

The survey included 1.100 respondents, and the data was collected from April 14 to 18. The largest possible error is +/- 3,54%, and the reliability is 95%. 

22,7% of respondents believe that the taxes paid by private renters are too low or lower than they should be, 19,8% believe that they are exactly as they should be, and 21,7% that they are higher than they should be or even too high.

On the other hand, 35,7% of the respondents do not know how to answer this question, which indicates that they know very little about this topic, which is logical because it is a professional topic. 

To the question "should the flat tax per bed for small renters be increased", 11% answered that it should be significantly increased, and 23,4% that it should be increased, but not excessively.

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Almost 33% of respondents think that this tax should not increase, and slightly less, 31,7% have no answer.

Here is what citizens think about how widespread the phenomenon of avoiding registration of guests in tourist accommodation is in our country:

As many as 54,5% of them believe that it is an extremely or significantly widespread phenomenon, 20,1% believe that it is moderate, and less than 10% believe that it is a small and very rare phenomenon.

Although such research is meaningless because it is about a slightly more complex and broader topic that is strictly related to tourism, and not the public opinion of the wider population of citizens. Most citizens, at least those who are not directly related to truism or renting apartments, 

But it is clearly another attempt to put the topic in the public's focus in order to create pressure for the introduction of taxes in the private sector. Until the landlords unite in one national association that would gather at least a few thousand landlords and be an equal representative of them, the landlords will continue to be "attacked", and they will not have their own representatives to tell the other side of the story. 

I have long emphasized the need for a strong national association of landlords. An association that must function according to the principle of monthly membership fees, gather thousands of renters, have at least three employees, (to begin with at least one person on salary as its representative), do research, be present as representatives of renters, do education, labeling and conferences...

Now renters only have to write on social networks, and being a member of the renters' association and paying a monthly membership fee is still a utopia and a distant dream. A dream that will eventually cost private renters dearly, and then it will be too late.

Source / Photo: HRT

Author  Goran Rihelj

22. April 2023.