Croatia's Ministry of Finance has established a working group to draft a new property tax law, which will go up for public debate before the summer, reported daily newspaper Vecernji list.

Finance Minister Slavko Linic remains of the opinion that the law will be accepted by Parliament this autunm, and will come into force at the beginning of 2013. Property tax will replace the current utility fee, which is the main income of local government.

However, the state will dig their hands deeper into the pockets of citizens who own more valuable properties, multiple properties, land, and the like. The amount of the tax will be based on the value of the property, and depending on whether the property is used for residential, vacation, business, rental or is unused.

According to recent public messages from the government, those who live in the properties they own will not face the extra hit with the tax, but the government will be hard on speculators who own apartments which they do not live in or land which is not used.