Citizens' View on Taxation in a Post-Transition Country: The Case of Croatia

Abstract

This paper presents the views of Croatian citizens
about some of the most relevant aspects of the tax
system. The research builds on previous broader
research into the views of tax experts in Croatia.
The current research objectives include: revealing citizens'
views about the most important tax issues, establishing
the influence of demographic characteristics and attitudes
towards redistribution on their answers, and the comparison
of their views with those of tax experts. On the one hand,
citizens mostly advocate the abolishment of inheritance
and gifts taxation, as well interest taxation, but on the
other hand, they advocate the introduction of bank
taxation and junk food taxation. They are in favour of
broadening the reduced VAT rate to encompass all
foodstuffs. The regression results suggest a strong influence
of the redistributive notion of the tax system, followed by real
estate ownership, income level, education level and work
status. Comparison with the answers of professionals reveals
a statistically significant difference. The paper should
contribute to the awareness of public acceptance of the tax
system and policy and provide some guidance about their
changes.