Tax Treatment of Acquisition and Costs of Using Personal Vehicles from 1 January 2018

Since 1 January 2018, the way of taxation of personal vehicles used for personal transportation changed. The biggest change relates to the possibility of deducting a part of input Value Added Tax for acquisition and usage of personal vehicles. Until 31 December 2017, an input VAT deduction was not permitted for acquisition of personal vehicle; from 1 January 2018, a taxpayer may deduct 50% of input VAT for acquisition of personal vehicle when its acquisition value is not over HRK 400,000. An input VAT deduction shall not be permitted for acquisition of personal vehicles when exceeding HRK 400,000 of the acquisition value per means of transportation. Taking into account a large number of entrepreneurs who are acquiring personal vehicles and the fact that personal vehicles are an integral part of the fixed tangible assets of an entrepreneur, it is very important to know how new tax changes affect its tax liabilities and when it has the right to deduct input VAT. Most of the costs that occur during the use of personal vehicles are recurring, such as the cost of fuel, oil, maintenance and repair, servicing of vehicles, registration, etc. The aforementioned costs are increasing the taxable base of profit tax, so they have a significant impact on the entrepreneurs' tax liabilities. Regarding the above changes, this paper shows accounting and tax procedures concerning acquisition and usage of personal vehicles for personal transportation.