Accounting and taxation of investment funds in the Republic of Croatia and harmonization with the acquis of the European Union

Investicijski fondovi i ulaganja u investicijske fondove aktualna su tema u Europskoj uniji jer se želi potaknuti veća investiranja, no dovodi se u pitanje porezni tretman. Cilj je ulaganja u investicijske fondove ulagati u imovinu, odnosno u novčani, obveznički, mješoviti ili dionički fond te ostvariti koristi. Kako se prilikom ulaganja u fond investitor treba detaljno informirati o svim aspektima ulaganja, poput pravnih oblika, računovodstvenih propisa ili poreznog aspekta te navedeni elementi prilikom pretraživanja na internetskom pregledniku nisu dostupni, autorica je rada odlučila prikazati sve specifičnosti ulaganja u investicijske fondove. Prilikom istraživanja autorica se koristila literaturom iz područja financijskih institucija i tržišta, računovodstva i financijskog izvještavanja investicijskih fondova, oporezivanja, i pravne regulative investicijskih fondova Europske unije. Istraživanjem se ustanovilo kako oporezivanje investicijskih fondova vezano uz zemlje članice Europske unije nije jedinstveno, već svaka zemlja koristi model oporezivanja i propisa za koje smatra da više odgovara investitorima, pa se time dovodi u pitanje i dvostruko oporezivanje. Iako je Republika Hrvatska uspostavila ugovore o izbjegavanju dvostrukog oporezivanja s nekim zemljama, može doći do oporezivanja ako se ne ispune svi zahtjevi za njegovim izbjegavanjem. Time je porezni aspekt jedan od najvećih problema investicijskih fondova. Prihvaćanjem rješenja svih država članica Europske unije o jedinstvenom poreznom okviru, olakšalo bi se, ali i privuklo više investitora.Investment funds and investments in investment funds are a current topic in the European Union because they want to encourage more investment, but tax treatment is at stake. The goal of investing in investment funds is to invest in assets, ie in money, bonds, mixed or equity funds, and to realize benefits. As the investor should be informed in detail about all aspects of the investment, such as legal forms, accounting regulations or tax aspects, and these elements are not available when searching on a browser, the author decided to show all the specifics of investing in mutual funds. During the research, the author used literature from the field of financial institutions and markets, accounting and financial reporting of investment funds, taxation, and legal regulations of investment funds of the European Union. The research found that the taxation of investment funds related to EU member states is not unique, but each country uses a model of taxation and regulations that it considers more suitable for investors. This calls into question double taxation, although the Republic of Croatia has established agreements on the avoidance of double taxation with some countries, taxation may occur if all avoidance requirements are not met. Thus, the tax aspect is one of the biggest problems of investment funds. Accepting the solution of all EU member states on a single tax framework would facilitate, but also attract more investors