Croatia - 2019 eInvoicing Country Sheet

Legislation

Act on eInvoicing in public procurement (Transposed Directive 55/2014/EU) has entered the force on November 1^st 2018. (OJ 94/2018)

https://narodne-novine.nn.hr/clanci/sluzbeni/2018_10_94_1817.html.

The Act obliges all public purchasers/procures as public procurement entities to receive structured electronic invoices beginning from December 1st 2018.

Mandatory issuance of structured eInvoices for suppliers/issuers of eInvoices, beguins on July 1st 2019.

All eInvoices issued in public procurement must comply with the European Standard (CEN)

for eInvoice EN 16931-1: 2017, CEN / TS 16931-2: 2017 (semantics), EN 16931-1 (syntax).

Also the Directive's scope was broadened and Croatia has decided to made the eInvoicing mandatory for procurement procedures below the thresholds: purchase of goods and services below 200,000.00 HRK and works below 500,000.00 HRK.

entral (state) platform for the eInvoices Servis eRačun za državu has been established for the exchange of eInvoices on which all information intermediaries will be obliged to connect (modified 3 (three) corner model of eInvoices exchange).

Central platform Servis eRačun za državu as access point will connect public contractors (directly), sectoral contractors (directly) and information intermediaries with their clients.

This model allows:

• Connection of all participants with only one connection point (connection with the access point), which significantly saves the resources needed for integrations
• Standardisation of the exchange protocol because all participants make a single connection to access point
• A unique record of all participants (Register) with easy switch of sectoral contractors from one information intermediary to another
• A record and a single statistical analysis of all received messages/invoices, regardless of which
• Information intermediary has sectoral contractor chosen, which is a powerful tool for overseeing irregularities.

eInvoicing platform and management solutions

Central platform for the exchange of eInvoices  - Servis eRačun za državu is a national platform for eInvoice exchange on which all information intermediaries for eInvoice exchange are obliged to connect (modified 3 (three) corner model of eInvoices exchange).

Central platform as access point connects public purchasers/contracting authorities (directly), sectoral contractors (directly) and information intermediaries with their clients.

This model allows:

• Connection of all participants with only one connection point (connection with the access point), which significantly saves the resources needed for integrations
• Standardisation of the exchange protocol because they all make a single connection to access point
• A unique record of all participants with easy switch of sectoral contractors from one information intermediary to another
• A record and a single statistical analysis of all received messages / invoices, regardless of which information intermediary has sectoral contractor chosen, which is a powerful tool for overseeing irregularities.

It is not necessary to establish bilateral contractual relations or agreements between all parties in the system; a simple registration to Servis eRačun za državu is sufficient to exchange eInvoices with other registered users.

Servis eRačun za državu is operated by the Financial agency (FINA), a state owned service provider under the supervision of the Ministry of Economy, Entrepreneurship and Crafts.

Approach for receiving and processing

Public purchasers/Contracting authorities receive eInvoices via the central eInvoicing platform Servis eRačun za državu.

The processing of eInvoices depends on the Public purchasers/Contracting authorities technology (fully automated or semi-automated, where the processing of eInvoices requires some human intervention).

The Croatian government recommends the use of the OASIS UBL 2.1 standard for B2G public procurement.

There are, however, other standards in place such as Cross Industry Invoice (CII). 

Status on the implementation of the European Standard on eInvoicing (EN)

FULLY IMPLEMENTED

Following the establishment of the CEN.TC 434, the Ministry of Economy, Entrepreneurship and Crafts had established a Croatian technical committee on eInvoicing (HZN/TO 573) in year 2014., which is under the supervision of the Croatian Standard Institute.

The Committee's objective are to follow the work of CEN/TC 434, to actively participate in the writing of normative documents within the work of CEN/TC 434 and to participate in their implementation in Croatia.

European Standard on eInvoicing (EN)is fully implemented in Croatia.

Croatia has CIUS on national level that complies with Croatian VAT legislation.

National CIUS provides descriptions of elements and data that should be used on invoices for public procurement.

More: https://www.fina.hr/e-racun-u-javnoj-nabavi

Additional information

The Ministry of Economy, Entrepreneurship and Crafts has undertaken great deal of various activities to promote the use of the eInvoices in Croatia, one of which is coordination and participation in projects funded through the CEF Telecom.

From 2015. - 2018., as a coordinator of Croatian partner consortia, the Ministry of Economy, Entrepreneurship and Crafts has successfully completed two projects and started the third project with the eInvoicing theme.

Through these projects central government bodies, private companies and public authorities of local and regional government have been successfully prepared to receive and process an eInvoice.

In cooperation with the Financial Agency (central eInvoice intermediary in Croatia) and the Croatian Association of Employers, more than 40 (forty) educational workshops through Croatian cities: Zagreb, Split, Osijek, Rijeka, Varaždin, Vukovar have been organised, with the goal to promote and educate business entities and public administration bodies for receiving/issuing eInvoices.

Through November and December 2018, and through January 2019. Financial Agency had organised and conducted at least 30 (thirty) technical workshops for eInvoice issuers/suppliers, system integrators (issuing), and public purchasers (receiving and issuing).

Last updated:  Mar 02, 2020 12:31