Off-the-books renting in Croatia: what it means for tenants and owners

Three different things under one name

Renting “na crno” isn't one offence. Each of its three meanings breaks a different rule, and the duties are split differently between tenant and owner:

• No written lease. The law requires one (Housing Lease Act, Art. 4; Obligations Act, Art. 552), but the missing written form on its own isn't an offence with a fine.
• The lease isn't reported to the Tax Administration. That's the owner's duty: the deadline is 8 days, and income taxIncome tax on rent (porez na dohodak)simplifiedThe tax a private landlord pays on rent: 12% of the rent less 30% for expenses, i.e. 8.4% of the rent. It's paid monthly under a Tax Administration decision.Source: Zakon o porezu na dohodak, čl. 57. i 62., checked 19 Oct 2026More in the glossary on the rent comes with it.
• The tenant has no registered address at the flat. Registering is the tenant's duty, but it needs the owner's consent, and the owner tells the police who they've given the flat to for more than three months.

Short-term tourist letting without approval follows different rules, which this guide doesn't cover.

Renting without a written lease

A contract not made in the required form generally has no legal effect (Obligations Act, Art. 290). It still counts as valid if the parties have carried it out in full or for the most part (Art. 294). On our reading, a tenant who moved in and paid rent, and an owner who accepted it, can rely on that. How courts apply this to flat leases isn't stated in the official sources we checked.

Without a lease it's hard to prove what was agreed. In a dispute each side must prove the facts it relies on (Civil Procedure Act, Arts. 219 and 221a), so on our reading whoever claims a certain rent, depositDeposit (polog)simplifiedMoney the tenant pays as security for unpaid rent, bills or damage, and gets back at the end of the lease. The lease sets the amount and when it's returned.Source: Zakon o najmu stanova (NN 91/96 … 105/20), čl. 3. i 17., checked 19 Oct 2026More in the glossary or notice periodNotice to end a lease (otkaz ugovora o najmu)simplifiedA statement by which landlord or tenant ends a lease. A tenant gives at least three months' notice on an open-ended lease; a landlord may only give notice on legal grounds.Source: Zakon o najmu stanova (NN 91/96 … 105/20), čl. 19.–25., checked 19 Oct 2026More in the glossary has to prove it with transfers, receipts, messages or witnesses.

• Whoever pays can ask for a receipt (Obligations Act, Art. 180). Make one with our rent receipt tool.
• On our reading, a bank transfer record is proof in itself (Art. 180), and a receipt for a later monthly rent means earlier ones are presumed paid (Art. 181).
• If terms change later, the rent for example, that should be in writing too (Art. 286).

What a lease should contain is in our lease checklist.

A lease not reported to the Tax Administration: the owner's duties

The tax duties are the owner's alone. A tenant doesn't pay tax on the rent, and the fines for an unreported lease or unpaid tax are set for the owner.

• The owner delivers the lease to the Tax Administration office for their own residence within 8 days (Income TaxIncome tax on rent (porez na dohodak)simplifiedThe tax a private landlord pays on rent: 12% of the rent less 30% for expenses, i.e. 8.4% of the rent. It's paid monthly under a Tax Administration decision.Source: Zakon o porezu na dohodak, čl. 57. i 62., checked 19 Oct 2026More in the glossary Act, Art. 62). If a notary certified or drew up the lease, the notary sends it and the owner needn't.
• Within the same deadline the owner registers in the taxpayer register with form RPO, unless the notary's delivery did it (Art. 87).
• Rent counts as earned even when the flat was handed over without a lease, except to close family or household members (Art. 62). If rent isn't reported, the Tax Administration sets the income at market prices (Art. 60).
• The tax is 12% of the rent after a 30% cost allowance, so 8.4% of the rent, paid monthly under the Tax Administration's decision.

For an owner who is a private person, the fines and other consequences are:

• €260 to €2,650 for a lease not delivered within 8 days, for late registration in the taxpayer register and for unpaid monthly tax (Income Tax Act, Art. 92).
• The Housing Lease Act also requires the owner to send the lease and every rent change to the city administration and the Tax Administration, and its fine is still in kuna: 1,000 to 5,000 kuna, about €132.72 to €663.61 at the fixed rate (Arts. 26 and 29; our conversion).
• Tax and interest can be assessed until six years have passed from the end of the year the liability arose (General Tax Act, Art. 108).
• In more serious cases, tax evasion can also be a crime (Criminal Code, Art. 256).

The General Tax Act also has a fine of €60 to €3,980 for not reporting facts relevant to tax. Whether it applies on top of the Income Tax Act fine or instead of it, we couldn't confirm.

A tenant without a registered address

A tenant registers their permanent or temporary addressTemporary address (boravište)simplifiedThe address where you live for a while without settling there for good. You register it with the police within 15 days if you'll stay longer than three months.Source: Zakon o prebivalištu (NN 144/12, 158/13, 114/22), čl. 2., 4. i 10., checked 19 Oct 2026More in the glossary within 15 days of moving in; a temporary address (boravište) is registered for stays over three months (Residence Act, Arts. 2 and 4). That needs the owner's consent, not a lease: certified written consent, consent given in person at the police or online, or a notarised lease. How to register is in our guide to registering your address.

An owner who gives a flat to someone for more than three months tells the police within 15 days, unless they gave consent in person before an official (Art. 10).

For private persons the fine is €60 to €660: for a tenant who registers late, and for an owner who doesn't report a let of over three months to the police (Art. 16). Whether a tenant can be fined when the owner refuses consent isn't settled in the Act, and we couldn't confirm it.

Foreign nationals follow the Foreigners Act; see our guide to renting in Zagreb as a foreigner.

What it means for the tenant, and for the owner

For the tenant:

• Without a written lease, it's harder to prove the rent, depositDeposit (polog)simplifiedMoney the tenant pays as security for unpaid rent, bills or damage, and gets back at the end of the lease. The lease sets the amount and when it's returned.Source: Zakon o najmu stanova (NN 91/96 … 105/20), čl. 3. i 17., checked 19 Oct 2026More in the glossary and notice periodNotice to end a lease (otkaz ugovora o najmu)simplifiedA statement by which landlord or tenant ends a lease. A tenant gives at least three months' notice on an open-ended lease; a landlord may only give notice on legal grounds.Source: Zakon o najmu stanova (NN 91/96 … 105/20), čl. 19.–25., checked 19 Oct 2026More in the glossary.
• There's a fine for not registering the address, and registering needs the owner's consent.
• The tax duties aren't theirs, but if the Tax Administration asks them for information, such as how much rent they paid, they must give it (General Tax Act, Art. 79; our reading).

For the owner:

• Income taxIncome tax on rent (porez na dohodak)simplifiedThe tax a private landlord pays on rent: 12% of the rent less 30% for expenses, i.e. 8.4% of the rent. It's paid monthly under a Tax Administration decision.Source: Zakon o porezu na dohodak, čl. 57. i 62., checked 19 Oct 2026More in the glossary on the rent and the Income Tax Act fines, with assessment going back up to six years.
• Losing the property-tax exemption: from 2027 Zagreb charges €8 per m² a year, and a let flat is exempt only if it's let for at least 10 months of the year, under a lease reported to the Tax Administration, to a tenant registered at the address. If the tenant has no registered address there, the Tax Administration says, there's no basis for the exemption. Details are in our guide to the 2027 tax on empty flats.
• A fine of €60 to €660 for not reporting a let of over three months to the police (Residence Act, Art. 16).

How to put a rental on the books

1. 1Sign a written lease: what it must say.
2. 2The owner delivers it to the Tax Administration within 8 days and registers with form RPO, or has a notary certify it, and the notary sends it. A copy also goes to the city administration (Housing Lease Act, Art. 26). Our guide to reporting a lease has the steps.
3. 3The tenant registers their address within 15 days, with the owner's consent. Unless the owner consented in person at the police, the owner reports a let of over three months to the police within 15 days.
4. 4Pay the rent by bank transfer or against a receipt.

Croatia has no voluntary-disclosure rule for rental income: the General Tax Act has one only for foreign income (Art. 12b). The Misdemeanours Act lets an offender who has fulfilled the duty be released from the fine (Art. 38), but that's no guarantee. We found no official statement on how the Tax Administration treats owners who report a lease late.

On 31 July 2026 minister Branko Bačić presented a proposed new Housing Lease Act under which every lease would have to be a notarial deed or solemnisedSolemnisation (solemnizacija)simplifiedA notary confirms a contract: checks it, explains the consequences and gives it the force of a notarial deed. With an enforcement clause it becomes an enforcement title.Source: Zakon o javnom bilježništvu (NN 78/93 … 57/22), čl. 54. i 59., checked 19 Oct 2026More in the glossary by a notary, who would send it to the Tax Administration. It's a proposal and hasn't been adopted; our guide to the new lease law has its status.

If the other side won't cooperate

If the owner refuses a written lease or consent for registration, the tenant can keep proof of the tenancy (transfers, receipts, messages) and get free legal aid: the City's free legal aid office and the Law Faculty's legal clinic are listed in our guide to tenant rights.

If the tenant won't register, the owner must still report a let of over three months to the police, and the lease to the Tax Administration within 8 days.

Who takes reports

The Tax Administration's list of irregularities that can be reported includes unreported letting of residential property. Reports go through the “Pišite nam” web form, the mPorezna app, post or in person at an office, or by phone on 0800 1001 on weekdays from 9:00 to 15:00. They can be anonymous, and the reported person's OIBOIB (personal identification number)Croatia's personal identification number, a permanent identifier used in official records. Croatians get it at birth; foreigners when there's a reason to.Source: Porezna uprava: Osobni identifikacijski broj (OIB), checked 19 Oct 2026More in the glossary isn't required. Through the “Pišite nam” form, the Tax Administration gives no information on specific tax cases or on any one taxpayer.

The police deregister, ex officio, the permanent address (prebivalište)Permanent address (prebivalište)simplifiedThe address where you've settled for good, the centre of your life. You register it with the police within 15 days of moving in.Source: Zakon o prebivalištu (NN 144/12, 158/13, 114/22), čl. 2.–4. i 10., checked 19 Oct 2026More in the glossary of someone who doesn't actually live there, established by a field check or after public bodies or others inform them (Residence Act, Art. 12).

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