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:

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

For Australia:

Services Australia

For Croatia:

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

For Australia:

International Services (CIS)

Note: the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) is responsible for anything relating to Double coverage. See Double coverage/taxation and healthcare.

For Croatia:

See Competent institutions above.

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

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

Australia/Croatia Agreement on Social Security (AUS187CB)

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 CIS.

Notification - Obavijest

• 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

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 Agreement partner 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 Agreement partner 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 Agreement partner 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.

Refer to Customer compensation and Act of Grace.

Forms:

For Australia

For Australian Disability Support Pension (DSP) claims, Croatia arrange for the Detailed Medical Report (AUS175) to be completed and sent to Australia.

For Croatia

For Croatian invalidity claims, CIS arrange for the form Medical Assessment Report (CRO/AU) to be completed and sent to Croatia. See Foreign pension medical assessments.

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

The Agreement with Croatia includes double coverage provisions. Certificates of coverage are used to confirm exceptions. See Double coverage/certificates of coverage information in International Social Security Agreements.

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 directly
• 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.

Tax treaty

Australia does not have a double tax agreement with Croatia

Tax deductions

Croatian pensions may have tax (porez) deductions

The gross rate of Croatian pension (before deductions) is maintained

Croatian tax year

Croatia uses the calendar year (1 Jan - 31 Dec) as the tax year.

The Resources page has a link to the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) contacts.

Information and forms for Croatian OIB are available for International Services staff through the International Program homepage. See Resources for a link.

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

After coding the ongoing Croatian pension, staff in CIS should send Croatian NOG insert and appropriate forms (Croatian OIB form and Croatian Life Certificate) to the customer.

HZMO may send an OIB claim 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, see the Life certificates, notices and documents under the Croatian payments tab.

To apply for an OIB, customers must complete the form provided and attach a certified copy of their current Australian or Croatian passport or Croatian Identity Card.

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

• 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 Numbers.

Croatian tax authority address:

Ministarstvo Financija - Porezna Uprava

PODRUCNI URED ZAGREB

Avenija Dubrovnik 32

10 000 Zagreb

CROATIA

Australia does not have a reciprocal health agreement with Croatia.

For general information on health insurance and Medicare coverage, see Health Insurance/Medicare information in International Social Security Agreements

Any queries about:

• Health insurance coverage in the other country - the customer should be directed to contact the health insurance authority in the other country, and
• Medicare coverage - should be directed to Medicare, see Medicare Consumers Program Support - Medicare Consumers Section - Medicare Branch

The official language of Croatia is 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

Mr FirstName Surname [Addressee’s title, name and surname]

Horvatova 63 [Street and house number]

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

CROATIA

Rural address

Mrs FirstName Surname [Addressee’s title, name and surname]

Biokovska 6 [Street and house number]

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

CROATIA

Post Office box address

Ms FirstName Surname [Addressee’s title, name and surname]

P.P. 421 [PO Box number]

10410 VELIKA GORICA [Destination post office number and city]

CROATIA

Note:

• Postanski Pretinac (PP) = 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, followed by a space

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) for severely disabled

Note: additional child amounts, also known as Overseas Child Component and Additional Child Payment, are included in the proportional rate calculation. See Rate Calculation.

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

Forms to claim an Australian payment in Croatia can be obtained by contacting the Croatian authorities or International Services (CIS).

Forms can also be downloaded from the Services Australia website. See the Resources page for a link.

Forms needed:

For all payments:

• AUS140CB - Australian pension claim - Agreement with Croatia
• Mod(iA)CB - Income and assets - Croatian

Additional medical forms:

• DSP
• AUS142CB - Work Capacity - Customer Information – Croatian
• AUS109CB - Treating Doctor's Report, outside Australia – Croatian
• AUS175CB - International Medical Assessment Report (Croatian)

Forms can be lodged at any Croatian social security office.

Under the Administrative Arrangements, the Croatian Liaison Agency will verify the customer's identity and send the claim to CIS with a completed Liaison Form including periods of coverage in Croatia and Croatian pension details. See the Exchange of information and liaison forms on the General information tab for the Croatian liaison form.

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 a third 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))

Australian claims under the Croatian Agreement may be lodged in some other Australian social security agreement countries.

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

Note: the customer must also satisfy any other rules under the other agreement and other 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

See Claim Lodgement Matrix (CLM).

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)

See Claims for Australian payments under International Agreements and Start Day (CLK) for coding help.

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)

Notes:

• Overlapping periods are only counted once (Article 13.2)
• Policy advice is that 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

Croatian periods of coverage means any period recognised as such under Croatian legislation, including any ‘equivalent’ periods , as certified by the Croatian authorities.

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 if the customer continues to reside in Croatia (Article 5).

The Agreement with Croatia (Article 14.1) refers to the overall rate calculation contained in the Social Security (International Agreements) Act 1999 (S12(1)).

This means:

• customers paid under the Agreement who are outside Australia are paid a proportional rate according to their Australian Working Life Residence (WLR)
• the Rate Limiter/Limited Rate applies, and
• additional child amounts are included in the proportional rate These amounts are paid automatically as a component of the Australian pension if the customer is qualified (S14A SS(IA)A 1999)

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

Although a person may be qualified for an Australian payment or portable outside Australia, if the customer has no WLR the rate of payment outside Australia will be nil.

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

When a person is paid a proportional rate under an agreement, Rent Assistance (RA) cannot be paid. Other add-ons such as Energy Supplement and Pension Supplement are payable under normal add-ons portability rules. See Portability of Add-ons.

Examples of when a customer is paid a proportional rate includes (but not limited to):

• permanently overseas
• temporarily overseas longer than 26 weeks for age pension
• former resident transferring to the agreement for portability

Returns to Australia

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

If there is no change to the country of residence, any movement is considered temporary and a review is set to automatically change the rate after a continuous period of 26 weeks. If a delegate determines that a person has changed their country of residence, coding the Country of Residence (CRES) screen will automatically apply the correct rate calculation.

• 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 paid a direct deduction rate (Article 14.3). That is, all Croatian payments covered by the Agreement. This includes social welfare payments. They are not assessed as income but will be deducted dollar-for-dollar from the maximum rate of the Australian payment before the application of the income or assets test.

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 exempt under the Agreement are generally exempt for autonomous customers (section 8(8)(zc) Social Security Act 1991). See Assessment and exempt payments on the Croatian payments tab.

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 is receiving an autonomous payment covered by the Agreement may be able to transfer to the Agreement if they are in Croatia when their normal portability period expires. The portability under the Agreement then applies, see Portability.

Note: the customer must meet the transfer requirements and satisfy any payment specific requirements under the Agreement, for example, being severely disabled for DSP.

Once a customer transfers to the Agreement, they are then considered to be paid by virtue of the agreement and all provisions of the calculation apply, including rate of payment. See Rate Calculation.

See Transfers to international social security agreements.

A person who has sufficient Australian qualifying residence (or an exemption) can only transfer from the Agreement to autonomous 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.

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

If a customer intends to be outside Australia 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 Australian payments made into bank accounts outside Australia, see Overseas Bank Account Details (OBAD).

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

• Dodatak za njegu - Carers allowance
• Doplatak za djecu - Child allowance
• Zaštitni dodatak - Protective allowance
• Naknada za tjelesno oštećenje - Compensation for physical damage

Notes:

• Minimum (najniža) and maximum (najviša) pensions apply
• Before 2013, pension supplement (Dodatak na mirovinu) was paid separately. See Notices and documents in Life certificates, notices and documents

The requirement to claim Croatian pensions applies to Croatian AGE, INV and SUR.

Notes:

The requirement to claim SUR does not apply to orphans or parents.

Customers may voluntarily claim SUR for other family members using the SUR claim pack. See Claim forms and processes.

Contributions paid by employers on behalf of employees.

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

Claim packs available: AGE, INV and SUR.

Claim packs for Croatian payments can be issued through the Foreign Pension System (FPS).

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.

Croatian Tax Number - Osobni Identifikacijski Broj (OIB), for Croatian Tax Numbers (OIB), see the Double coverage/Taxation and Healthcare on the General information tab

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 by internal mail to International Services. See Processing a foreign pension claim

International Services (CIS) only:

CIS will complete the following and attach to the foreign pension claim to send to the agreement country. See Agreement Liaison Detail (ALD) for method of transmission.

All claims:

Australia/Croatia Agreement on Social Security - Liaison form (AUS187CB)

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

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. See the Authorities, Institutions and Liaison Agencies on the General information tab.

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, see the Authorities, Institutions and Liaison Agencies on the General information tab.

Customers receive 12 regular monthly payments. There are no bonus payments. Coded as Freq: 'MTH'.

Payments into Australia are made in Australian dollars. All foreign income must be recorded in source currency Euro (EUR). Official statements provide the foreign currency amounts.

Note: amounts recorded in source currency on the FPD screen must not be changed to the Australia (AU) dollar amount.

Croatian payments are generally increased for cost of living (CPI) in January and July each year.

For more information on bulk exchanges of information with other countries, see International Data Exchange Program and auto-indexation of foreign pensions.

Croatian AGE/INV/SUR are:

• ordinary income in all cases except direct deduction if paid under the Agreement in Australia (Article 14.3)

Each member of a couple is deemed to receive half of the total amount received by the couple (Article 14.5).

Note: the 26 week temporary departure and return provisions apply (Article 14.2 and 14.4).

See also Other known payments.

Amounts that are treated as a direct deduction under an agreement are exempt from the income test (section 8(8)(zc) Social Security Act 1991).

Note: payments that are exempt from the income test are included in a direct deduction rate, for example, under an agreement rate calculation or for Special Benefit (SpB).

There are no exempt payments under the Agreement with Croatia, however the Croatian Coronavirus payment is exempt under the income test.

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

This payment is exempt from the income test under the Social Security Act 1991 under Sub-section 8(8)(c).

The gross rate of Croatian pension is maintained.

Dual rate display on Croatian Notice of Grants and pension statements

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.

Staff must record Croatian pension rates as:

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

See Foreign currency and exchange rates.

The Eligibility and coding tab has detailed information on the coding of Croatian payments covered by the Agreement.

Note: for information on Croatian Tax Number - Osobni Identifikacijski Broj (OIB), and post-NOG procedures, see the Double coverage/Taxation and Healthcare on the General information tab.

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

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 by normal methods under the Act. See Comparable Foreign Payment lump sum arrears.

Note: 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.

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 may issue Life Certificates (Potvrde o životu) each year.

Services Australia Service Officers can certify Croatian Life Certificates.

For general information about 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 also receive a monthly statement.

Note: the pension supplement (Dodatak na mirovinu) was integrated into the pension rate in 2012. Notices before 2013 may include the supplement as a separate allowance but must be added to the pension rate and coded in the Basic Amount: field of the main pension.

Payments into Australia are paid in Australian dollars. All foreign pensions must be recorded in the source currency. Official statements provide the foreign currency amounts.

Note: amounts recorded in source currency on the FPD screen must not be changed to the AU dollar amount.

For help with coding:

• other generic benefits paid by the Croatian Government (including by funds not covered by the Agreement), see Foreign pension coding
• any other income received from Croatia, see Foreign income and assets