ZAGREB, Aug 29 (Hina) - The State Institute for Family, Maternity and Youth has proposed measures to revise tax benefits and introduce state-subsidised housing loan interest for families with children, which should improve Croatia's
demographic image, Institute director Adinda Dulcic said.
ZAGREB, Aug 29 (Hina) - The State Institute for Family, Maternity
and Youth has proposed measures to revise tax benefits and
introduce state-subsidised housing loan interest for families with
children, which should improve Croatia's demographic image,
Institute director Adinda Dulcic said. #L#
The draft national family policy, which this week was discussed by
the government's co-ordinating body for social issues, should be
discussed in parliament already in September.
If we want to encourage people to have more children, we should
change the system of tax benefits, Dulcic told Hina.
The current system of tax benefits favours people with higher
income, so that the tax benefits of a person with a salary of 2,500
kuna and one child amount to 93,75 kuna; people with an income of
4,000 kuna have a tax benefit of 119,25 kuna, and those with a salary
of 6,000 kuna have a tax benefit of 156 kuna.
This system is not good for families with lower income and the
Institute has therefore suggested the introduction of benefits in
the form of state-subsidised interest on housing loans, Dulcic
said.
If the government and parliament accept this proposal, the state
could subsidise 50 percent of housing loan interest for families
with one child. The subsidy would grow with each next child and
decrease if the family does not have a new child in a certain number
of years, she said.
Maternity and child allowances should not be reduced any further
and the right to child allowance should be made universal, Dulcic
said.
The draft envisages the so-called paternity and parental leave
which would be of different duration and be used in different
periods of the child's life.
The draft also proposes additional services in pre-school children
care, the legalising of non-institutional forms of children care,
education of nannies, the establishment of family centres, and more
flexible working hours.
The national family policy is aimed at defining the state's long-
term relationship towards the family and should serve as the basis
for the adoption of regulations improving the status of families
with children in line with the country's economic potential, Dulcic
said.
(hina) rml