Croatia Agreement and foreign pension information 106-04037000

In Croatia, national legislation needs the compulsory payment of social security contributions. The pension insurance covers most workers and the self-employed. Since 2002, a system of individual accounts complements the social insurance scheme.

Contributions insure individuals against disability and death and provides for income in the form of a pension once the person reaches retirement age. Minimum and maximum pensions apply. Separate legislation covers unemployment and health insurance.

The legislation is the responsibility of the Croatian government but administration and payment of pensions is the responsibility of the Central Pension Insurance Institute.

The Agreement with Croatia started one 1 July 2004. There are no previous versions.

For Australia:

Department of Social Services (DSS)

For Croatia:

Ministarstvo Rada i Mirovinskoga Sustava (MRMS) - Ministry of Labour and Pension System

For Australia:

Services Australia

Note: the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) is responsible for double coverage provisions.

For Croatia:

Hrvatski Zavod za Mirovinsko Osiguranje (HZMO) - Croatian Pension Insurance Institute

For Australia:

Centrelink International Services (CIS)

Note: the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) is responsible for double coverage provisions.

For Croatia:

Hrvatski Zavod za Mirovinsko Osiguranje (HZMO) - Croatian Pension Insurance Institute

Under the Agreement with Croatia, information held about customers may be exchanged between the Liaison Agencies to determine entitlement to payments under the Agreement and under either country's domestic legislation (Article 19.1).

For information on bulk data exchange, see International Data Exchange Program and auto-indexation of foreign pensions.

The following liaison is form is completed by Centrelink International Services (CIS) and sent to Croatia:

• AUS187CB - Australia/Croatia Agreement on Social Security

For help with creating and completing the liaison form, see Agreement liaisons, NZ CICs and exchange of information.

This liaison form is completed by Croatia and is sent to Centrelink International Services (CIS).

Notification – Obavijest

This form is used in all communication from Croatia.

• Claimant: provides details claimant and insured person
• Section 1 - WE SEND YOU: provides details sent to Australia
• Section 2 - WE NOTIFY YOU: provides information confirmed by Croatia including insurance periods and Croatian pension details
• Section 3 - PLEASE SEND US: provides details of information requested by Croatia
• SIGNATURE

Croatian Insurance Record – Podaci o osiguranje u R. Hrvatskoj (HR/AU1)

• This form has verified Croatian insurance periods.
• Section 1 - Claimant details
• Section 2 - Credible periods under Croatian legislation
• Date, stamp and signature

Under the Administrative Arrangements, each country will arrange for an agreed report to be and sent with claims for invalidity/disability pensions.

Medical examinations may also be undertaken upon request for foreign pension claim purpose. Generally, the liaison agency will contact Services Australia with the request. There is no provision for reimbursement of costs to either country.

The customer should contact Services Australia if they receive a direct request from the liaison agency to undertake a medical examination. Advise the customer to go through Services Australia’s foreign pension medical assessment process. Where the customer has already undertaken a medical examination based on a direct request from the Agreement partner without consulting Services Australia, the customer should contact the liaison agency to discuss any possible reimbursement options.

If a customer is claiming reimbursement of costs based on undertaking a medical examination requested by Services Australia for foreign pension purpose, consider all evidence provided. For example, if incorrect advice was provided to the customer by Services Australia that caused them to seek an independent medical examination which caused the customer to be out of pocket.

See Customer compensation and Act of Grace.

Samples of forms, foreign documents and translations are available through the Residence and International program homepage.

The Agreement with Croatia includes double coverage provisions. Certificates of coverage are used to confirm exceptions.

Any enquiries about double coverage or certificates of coverage should be directed to the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) website.

Any queries about taxation of pensions or the requirement to lodge a tax return should be directed to:

• In the other country - the tax authority in the other country
• In Australia - the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) website

Note: customers need to provide their Croatian Tax Number (OIB) to the Croatian pension fund to be able to be paid a Croatian pension. See Croatian Tax Numbers (OIB) below.

See general information on taxation, including issuing Australian payment summaries.

Tax treaty

Australia does not have a double tax agreement with Croatia.

Tax deduction

Croatian pensions may have tax (porez) deductions.

The gross rate of Croatian pension, before any deductions, is maintained.

Croatian tax year

Croatia uses the calendar year (1 January - 31 December) as the tax year.

Information and forms for Croatian OIB are available for International Services staff through the Residence and International program homepage.

Customers need to provide details of their Croatian Tax Number (Osobni Identifikacijski Broj or OIB) to the Croatian pension fund (HZMO) before their pension can be paid.

The OIB consists of 11 digits. The numbers are random and do not correlate to a person’s identity.

Note: Croatian pension reference numbers also contain 11 digits however it generally starts with 03.

Where an OIB is provided to HZMO as part of the claim process, it is recorded on the Croatian NOG.

Applying for an OIB

After coding the ongoing Croatian pension, Centrelink International Services (CIS) should send Croatian NOG insert and appropriate forms (Croatian OIB application form if OIB not provided and Croatian Life Certificate) to the customer.

HZMO may send an OIB application form to customers with the annual Croatian Life Certificate. Customers who do not have an OIB will need to apply directly to the Croatian tax authority (see below).

Customers may advise HZMO of their OIB or confirm that they have applied for it by writing on the Life Certificate.

To apply for an OIB, customers must complete the application form provided and attach a certified copy of their:

• current Australian or Croatian passport or
• Croatian National Identity Card

If the customer does not have these documents, they may provide a certified copy of as many of the listed documents:

• Medicare card
• expired passport showing citizenship
• Australian citizenship document
• Australian driver's licence

An officer of Services Australia can certify copies of documents but cannot help with sending applications for Croatian Tax Number.

Croatian tax authority address:

Ministarstvo Financija - Porezna Uprava

Područni ured Zagreb

Avenija Dubrovnik 32

10 000 Zagreb

CROATIA

Australia does not have a Reciprocal Health Care Agreement (RHCA) with Croatia.

See general information on health insurance and Medicare coverage.

Any queries about:

• Health insurance coverage in the other country - tell the customer to contact the health insurance authority in the other country
• Medicare coverage - direct them to Medicare

The official language of Croatia is Croatian.

See Croatian naming conventions and pronunciations.

Telephone country code is +385.

Be aware of phone numbers beginning with +381 (Serbia) and +387 (Bosnia and Herzegovina). Phone numbers with these prefixes may indicate that although the customer may have given us a Croatian address, they may be living in Serbia or Bosnia and Herzegovina. If contact is for an Australian payment, further follow-up may be necessary.

Street address

Title FirstName Surname [Addressee]

Horvatova 63 [Street and house number]

10002 ZAGREB [Destination post office number and city/town]

CROATIA

Rural address

Title FirstName Surname [Addressee]

Luka 10 [Street and house number]

23450 MODRIĆI [Destination post office number and name of town/village]

CROATIA

Post Office Box address

Title FirstName Surname [Addressee]

P.P. 421 [PO Box number]

10410 VELIKA GORICA [Destination post office number and city]

CROATIA

Note:

• Poštanski pretinac (P.P.) = Post Office box
• Locality (village or town):
• if the name of the locality is the same as the name of the post office, the locality is not included in the address
• Destination post office number:
• the digits in the number should be written without separating thousands

Although Croatia’s Constitution defines marriage solely as a union between a woman and a man, since the introduction of the Life Partnership Act in 2014, same-sex couples have effectively had rights equal to heterosexual married couples.

Croatia adopted the Euro (EUR) as of 1 January 2023. Croatia’s former currency was the Croatian Kuna (HRK). See Foreign currency and exchange rate.

For Australia, the Agreement with Croatia (Article 2.1) covers:

• Age Pension
• Disability Support Pension (DSP)

Note: only severely disabled DSP customers may be granted under the Agreement (Article 2.1(a)(i)).

Claims for Australian payments under International Agreements use the same methods and processes as domestic claims.

Forms to claim an Australian payment in Croatia can be obtained by:

• downloading the relevant form from the Services Australia website. See Resources
• contacting Centrelink International Services (CIS)
• contacting the Croatian authorities

Australian forms needed

The customer is to complete and provide the following:

All claims:

• AUS140CB - Australian Pension Claim - Social Security Agreement between Australia and Croatia
• Mod(iA)CB - Income and Assets - Croatia

DSP only:

• AUS142CB - Work Capacity - Customer Information - Croatian
• AUS109 - Treating Doctor's Report - outside Australia
• AUS175 - Medical Assessment Report - Disability Support Pension (Outside Australia)

Note: Croatia arranges for the AUS175 to be completed on a case-by-case basis.

Forms can be lodged at any Croatian social security office.

Under Section 4 of the Administrative Arrangements, the Croatian liaison agency will:

• accept all forms/documents and date stamp the AUS140 form
• verify the customer’s identity and personal details
• when necessary, arrange medical forms to be completed, and
• send the form(s) and any supporting documentation to Services Australia with a liaison form specifying periods of coverage in Croatia and information regarding Croatian pensions

See the Exchange of information and liaison forms.

If a person is not an Australian resident and in Australia on the date the claim is made, they may use the Agreement to meet the residence rules for claims if, on that date, they are:

• an Australian resident, a resident of Croatia or another Agreement country that accepts claims for Australian pension under another agreement (Article 12(a)), and
• physically present in Australia, Croatia or that third country (Article 12(b))

Claims under the Croatian Agreement

Claims for Australian payments under the Croatian Agreement may be lodged in some other Australian Agreement countries.

See the Claim lodgement matrix.

Accepting other Agreement claims

Croatia will accept claims for Australian benefits under other Australian social security agreements.

Claim lodgement consideration

The customer must also satisfy any other rules under the other agreement and social security law provisions, including portability. For example, DSP can be claimed in a third country but has an ongoing residence requirement. Therefore, if the claimant is:

• living in the other country, DSP cannot be paid
• temporarily in the other country, DSP may generally be paid for the period it is portable under domestic legislation

The normal rules for working out the date a claim is 'made' and the start day apply to a claim under the Agreement with Croatia. However, the Agreement also allows:

• the date of lodgement of a claim for an Australian payment in Croatia to be used as the date of lodgement in Australia (Article 17.2)

For coding help, see:

• Claims for Australian payments under International Agreements and
• Start Day (CLK)

The Agreement allows:

• totalisation of periods of qualifying Australian residence and periods of coverage in Croatia to meet any minimum periods to qualify for an Australian pension, for example, 10 years for Age Pension (Article 13.1)
• the total of any non-continuous Croatian periods of coverage to be considered to be continuous to meet any continuous residence requirement to claim an Australian pension (Policy)

Note:

• Overlapping Australian residence and Croatian periods of coverage are only counted once (Article 13.2)
• Adjoining periods of Australian qualifying residence and Croatian periods of coverage, with a break of up to 3 months in between, can also be considered to be continuous (Policy)

See Resources in International Social Security Agreements for examples of totalisation.

Croatian period of coverage:

• means a period of insurance, for example, a period during which contributions were paid, or any equivalent period, as defined in the Croatian legislation
• where equivalent periods may include deemed periods, such as for child rearing or military service
• where both actual and deemed periods may be used when totalising for Australian qualification purposes, as long as they are certified, and don’t overlap
• is always stated on the Croatian pension grant letter (mirovinski staž)
• must be certified by the Croatian Competent Institution

To be able to use the totalisation provisions, a person who is not an Australian resident at the date of lodgement must have at least 12 months Australian Working Life Residence (WLR) in Australia of which 6 months must be continuous (Article 13.3(a)).

Note: unlike WLR for rate, this period cannot be rounded.

No minimum WLR is needed if the person is an Australian resident at the date of lodgement (Article 13.3(b)).

The Agreement allows the ongoing residence requirement for DSP to be met by customers who reside in Croatia (Article 5).

For customers outside Australia, the Agreement with Croatia (Article 14.1) refers to the overall rate calculation contained in section 12(1) of the Social Security (International Agreements) Act 1999.

This means customers paid under the Agreement have:

• a proportional rate according to their Australian Working Life Residence (WLR)
• the Rate Limiter/Limited Rate applied
• additional child amounts (S14A SS(IA) 1999) included, if eligible

The Croatian Agreement does not include the proportionalisation of any Croatian pension in the income test (Randisi concession).

Note: in some circumstances, their partner's WLR may be used. See Working Life Residence (WLR).

Non-proportional rate extension

Customers paid under the Agreement and temporarily outside Australia, cannot have their non-proportional portability rate extended if they are unable to return to Australia.

Returns to Australia

The proportional rate continues to apply for the first 26 weeks of a temporary return to Australia (Article 14.2).

• For returns to Australia before 9 June 2018, manually code the Temporary Return to Aust Ind on the Residence Savings (RSS) screen.

Customers in Australia under the Agreement are generally paid a direct deduction rate (Article 14.3).

The Agreement does not include a comparison rate in Australia.

Departures from Australia

The inside Australia rate continues to be paid for the first 26 weeks of a temporary departure from Australia (Article 14.4).

Payments under the Agreement

Under the Agreement, provided the customer remains qualified, Australian payments are payable indefinitely in both countries, that is, for temporary or permanent absences (Article 5.1).

Third country portability under the Agreement

Portability to third countries for a customer paid under the Agreement is the same as for an autonomous customer leaving Australia (Article 5.2 and 5.3). See Portability of payments.

If necessary, a customer who receives an autonomous payment that stops being payable due to portability reasons can transfer to the Agreement to continue payment if:

• the payment is covered by the Agreement
• the customer meets any payment limitations, such as severely disabled, and
• the customer is able to meet the lodgement provisions of the Agreement

If transferred to the Agreement, all Agreement rules apply to the customer, including portability and rate of payment.

See Transfers to international social security agreements.

A person who would be autonomously qualified but is paid under the Agreement can transfer from the Agreement to autonomous only if they are an Australian resident and in Australia.

On return to Australia, system processing will automatically transfer from the Agreement to autonomous if the person is an Australian resident who has only used the Agreement to extend their portability while outside Australia.

Former resident provisions may affect customers who transfer to autonomous if they leave Australia again within 2 years of becoming an Australian resident.

Australian payments may be issued to customers outside of Australia. If the customer intends to be outside of Australia:

• long-term (12 months or longer), their Australian payment may be issued to an overseas bank account. See Overseas Bank Account Details (OBAD) for payment requirements by country
• for less than 12 months, payment will generally continue to their normal Australian bank account every 2 weeks

See Delivery of payments to Centrelink customers outside Australia.

For Croatia, the Agreement covers the pension insurance legislation.

Main payments

• Starosna mirovina - Old Age Pension (AGE)
• Invalidska mirovina - Invalidity Pension (INV)
• Obiteljska mirovina - Survivor Pension (SUR):
• Udovica/Udovac (Widow/er)
• Dijete (Orphan)
• Roditelj (Parent)

Supplementary payments/Allowances

• Dodatak za pomoć i njegu (Allowance for attendance and care)
• Zaštitni dodatak (Protective allowance)
• Naknada za tjelesno oštećenje (Compensation for physical damage)
• Dodatak na mirovinu (Pension supplement)

The following known payments are paid by the Croatian authorities but are not covered under the Agreement:

• Croatian Coronavirus payment
• Doplatak za djecu (Child allowance)

For help with:

• Assessment of Croatian pensions, see Assessment
• Coding of Croatian pensions, see Eligibility and Coding

The requirement to claim Croatian pension applies to Croatian AGE and INV.

• Customers may voluntarily claim SUR for other family members using the SUR claim pack.

See Foreign pension claims.

The Eligibility and coding of foreign pensions tab contains detailed information on Croatian payments that are subject to CFP legislation.

Claim packs are available for AGE, INV and SUR.

Claim packs are issued through the Foreign Pension System (FPS). See Assisting customers to claim a foreign pension.

Specific requirements for Croatian claims

The customer is to complete and provide the following:

All claims:

• Original Croatian workbook - Radna knjižica

Note: a certified copy should be given to the customer.

Application for a Croatian Tax Number - Osobni Identifikacijski Broj (OIB) is provided with the claim. Customers will not be paid their Croatian pension without an OIB.

AGE only:

• Application for old age pension - Zahtjev za hrvatsku starosnu mirovinu (HR/AU2)

INV only:

• Application for disability pension - Zahtjev za invalidsku mirovinu (HR/AU3)

SUR only:

• Application for survivors pension - Zahtjev za obiteljsku mirovinu (HR/AU4)
• Marriage/death certificate
• Birth certificate for dependent children (if applicable)

Requests for additional information

If details provided with the claim for Croatian pension is incomplete, Croatia will send requests for information in Croatian direct to customers.

Under the Administrative Arrangements, Croatian forms can be lodged in Australia at any service centre. See Processing a foreign pension claim.

• All foreign pension claims and supporting documents must be scanned, and
• The original foreign claim form, the original Croatian workbook and copies of supporting documents must be sent in paper form to Centrelink International Services (CIS). See Processing a foreign pension claim

Centrelink International Services (CIS) only:

CIS will complete the following or arrange for the following to be completed as necessary and attach the documents to the foreign pension claim to send to the agreement country. See Agreement Liaison Detail (ALD) for method of transmission.

CIS staff are required to sign the relevant section in the Croatian claim form.

All claims:

• AUS187CB - Australia/Croatia Agreement on Social Security

For help with creating and completing the liaison form, see Agreement liaisons, NZ CICs and exchange of information.

The original Croatian workbook is sent to Croatia and a photocopy is returned to the customer.

INV only:

• Medical Assessment Report (CRO/AU). See Foreign pension medical assessments
• Copy of existing Australian medical information

Enquiries about claims for Croatian payments in Croatia or a third country should be directed to the Croatian social security authorities.

Croatian payments may be paid by direct deposit in Australia.

Any queries about the non-payment of Croatian pension should be directed to the Croatian pension authorities.

Agreement pensions are paid as 12 regular monthly payments. There are no bonus payments.

Other benefits or private pensions are normally paid monthly or annually.

Croatian pensions must be recorded in the source currency - Euro (EUR). Official statements provide the foreign currency amounts.

Amounts recorded in source currency on the Foreign Pensions Details (FPD) screen must not be changed to the Australian dollar amount.

Note: payments into Australia are made in Australian dollars.

From 1 January 2023, Croatia adopted the Euro (EUR) currency. The former currency was the Croatian Kuna (HRK). Prices for goods and services, including Croatian pension rates, must be provided in both EUR and HRK from 5 September 2022 to 31 December 2023.

HRK currency rates are provided where the date of effect (DOE) is before 5 September 2022.

Croatian pension rates must be recorded as:

• EUR from 1 January 2023 onwards
• HRK if before 31 December 2022

See Foreign currency and exchange rates.

Croatian payments are generally increased for Consumer Price Index (CPI, or cost of living) changes in January and July each year.

For information on bulk data exchange and auto adjusted CPI increases, see International Data Exchange Program and auto-indexation of foreign pensions.

• directly deducted (Article 14.3) and ignored in the income test (Article 8(8)(zc) Social Security Act 1991) for customers under the Croatian Agreement who are in Australia
• ordinary income (not proportionalised) for customers paid:
• customers under the Croatian Agreement who are outside Australia
• autonomously customers inside and outside Australia.
• under another agreement other than Croatia or New Zealand, who are inside or outside Australia

See Rate Calculation for when a direct deduction or proportional rate is applied.

Note:

• Each member of a couple is deemed to receive half of the total amount received by the couple (Article 14.5)
• Pension supplement (Dodatak na mirovinu) was integrated into the pension rate in 2012. Notices before 2012 may include the supplement as a separate allowance but must be added to the pension rate

Croatian AGE/INV and SUR

From 1 January 2023, a customer can be paid 2 Croatian pensions:

• AGE (or early age) pension, or
• INV pension, and
• a part SUR pension

A customer may be granted a SUR pension with their AGE/INV pension however they will only be paid a part of the SUR pension. Amount needs to be confirmed with the customer. Only record this amount.

• Some statements indicate minor adjustments (razlika) for small arrears, which should be ignored. For amounts before 2013, see Life certificates, notices and documents

• Dodatak za pomoć i njegu - Attendance and care allowance

Dodatak za pomoć I njegu may be paid to a person who needs assistance with basic needs.

This payment can be paid by the Croatian Social Welfare centre (Centar za socijalni skrb).

• Zaštitni dodatak - Protective allowance

Zaštitni dodatak is a supplementary benefit paid to a person who receives a pension amount under the income threshold. This threshold is generally determined by the Croatian standard of living.

Rates are reviewed every January and July, in line with the Croatian indexation.

• Naknada za tjelesno oštećenje - Compensation for physical damage

Naknada za tjelesno oštećenje is paid to a person who has been found to have a physical impairment of at least 30%, which occurred as a result of an injury at work or an occupational disease.

These payments are exempt income for customers paid under the agreement or autonomously:

• Croatian Coronavirus payment

Croatia paid a one-off economic stimulus payment in response to the COVID-19 pandemic to recipients of a Croatian pension that live in the Republic of Croatia.

This payment was made through the Croatian Pension Institute (HZMO) between April and July 2021.

The amount depends on how much total pension recipients receive (combined Croatian, Australian and any other) per month:

• Total pension amount up to 1500 HRK:
• COVID-19 payment amount 1200 HRK
• Total pension amount from 1500.01 HRK to 2000 HRK:
• COVID-19 payment amount 900 HRK
• Total pension amount from 2000.01 HRK to 3000 HRK:
• COVID-19 payment amount 600 HRK
• Total pension amount from 3000.01 HRK to 4000 HRK:
• COVID-19 payment amount 400 HRK
• Total pension amount from 4000.01 HRK:
• COVID-19 payment amount 0 HRK.

• Doplatak za djecu - Child allowance

A benefit to assist parents or other legal persons in supporting and raising children.

Child allowance may be exempt if the child meets the definition of a dependent child (section 8(8)(j) Social Security Act 1991). Otherwise, payment is assessed as ordinary income.

The Agreement includes embargo provisions (Article 18.3) but they are not used.

Arrears debts for customers and their partners are raised under s1228A Social Security Act 1991 and recovered via normal methods under the Act. See Comparable Foreign Payment lump sum arrears.

When an arrears period is not provided, the arrears period end date may be assumed to be the end of the month before the date on the notice or liaison form.

A contravention debt may also occur if the customer does not advise of the grant of their Croatian payment within their notification period. See Foreign pension coding.

Croatia no longer sends life certificates to customers that have provided their CRN and are captured as part of the International Data Exchange Program.

For all other customers, Croatia may issue Life certificates (Potvrde o životu) each year. Certificates are generally issued in September and need to be received and processed by the Croatian authority by end of October.

Croatian Life Certificates can be certified by an officer of Services Australia.

For information on helping customers with life certificates, see Assisting customers to maintain an existing foreign pension.

Customers in Australia are sent notices at grant but do not receive regular notices. Customers in Croatia receive a monthly statement.

Croatian Notices of Grants or Rejection are known as Rješenje (Decision). They contain verified Croatian contributions.

Note: some statements indicate minor adjustments (razlika) for small arrears, which should be ignored.