The period of retention of business documentation is determined by the provisions of one or more regulations. If the period of retention of a particular document is regulated by several regulations, then the documentation is kept according to the provisions of the regulation that requires a longer retention period.
All business documentation after use (processing) must be kept for subsequent checks and controls by the company itself, the supervisory authority, and for the purpose of fulfil or defending legal claims in court or administrative proceedings.
For determining the deadlines for keeping tax and accounting documentation, the most important regulations are
- Accounting Act
- General tax law
Besides these regulations, the deadlines for keeping the documentation may be prescribed by other regulations.
Article 7 (10) of the Accounting Act stipulates that the company is obliged to take measures to protect the accounting documentation from loss, damage and ensure that the necessary technical equipment, data subjects and software are protected from misuse, damage, destruction, unauthorized interference, unauthorized access, loss, theft, or alienation.
According to the above financial statements, payrolls, records of workers and certain other documentation are kept permanently.
Accounting documents shall be kept:
- as an original written document,
- on the holder of the electronic record, or
- converted to the holder of micrographic processing (art.10. Accounting Act)
The time limit for keeping accounting documents begins to run on the last day of the business year to which the business books in which the documents are entered relate.
Bookkeeping documents may be kept on the territory of the Republic of Croatia and in another Member State.
Retention periods:
| Documentation | Retention period: | |
| Accounting documents | Based on which the data is inserted into the logbook and general ledger and secondary ledgers | at least 11 years |
| Payrolls, analytical records of salaries for which mandatory contributions are paid | permanently | |
| Documentation in the field of employment relations | Records of workers (Workers’ Registers) | permanently |
| Records of: Workers temporarily transferred from an associated companyPersons who are at the employer’s professional training for work without entering into an employment relationshipFull-time students working through authorized student centersRegular students working through authorized secondary schoolsRegular students of professional education institutions who attend practical classes and exercises with the employerPersons who perform work for the common good with the employer in accordance with the general regulations | 6 years from the date of termination of work with these employers | |
| Working time record | 6 years (in case of a labor dispute until the conclusion of the dispute) | |
| Tax card (TC form) | Keep as long as the employee who receives the receipt referred to in Art. 21 of the Income Tax Act works with the employer, i.e., while the pension or receipt on the basis of non-independent work (Article 26, paragraph 3 of the Income Tax Act) | |
| Documentation in the field of customs and foreign exchange operations | Customs declarationAccounting recordCertificate of origin of goodsOther customs documents | Within the time limit established by the regulations, and at least 3 years from the last day of the calendar year in which the customs procedure was completed (Customs Law/Law on the Implementation of Customs Enforcement) |
| Control Book Insurance businessCredit transactionsDirect investmentsSecurities dealsInvesting in real estateDepositary transactions of residents with foreign financial institutionsOther movements of capital | 7 years (vol. IV. (5.) Orders on keeping a supervisory record on capital affairs with foreign countries) |
Business documentation and business books that have expired are destroyed in a way that ensures the protection of confidentiality of data and prevents unauthorized access to personal data, and in accordance with environmental regulations.
