By Lucija Vujnović / Vera Kadijević
ZAGREB, 1 Dec 2025 (Hina) – From 2026, Croatia will introduce higher tax-free income thresholds for student work, aiming to ease financial pressures on young people and support a busy student labour market.
The Government has confirmed that students whose parents claim tax relief will be able to earn up to €4,800 tax-free, while those not on parental relief will enjoy a higher threshold of €12,000.
The move comes as student centres across the country report rising hourly rates, increased living costs and continued high demand for student workers, especially during peak tourism seasons.
Zagreb Student Centre: “A timely and realistic measure”
The Zagreb Student Centre (SC Zagreb), the country’s largest with around 42,000 registered students and 12,500 employers, welcomed the decision as a long-overdue adjustment to the realities of the labour market.
This year’s minimum student hourly rate is €6.06, set to rise to €6.56 at the start of 2026. Until now, static tax-free limits had failed to keep pace with these increases.
Last year alone, more than 13,800 students exceeded the previous annual limit of €3,360, while over 1,500 passed the upper threshold of €10,080.
Student representatives say many were forced to stop working mid-year to avoid surpassing the limit, even as employer demand and living expenses continued to rise.
SC Zagreb estimates that the new limits will allow students to work throughout the year with potential average monthly earnings of around €1,000, significantly improving financial stability and the general student standard.
The centre also highlights that the system is already highly digitalised, with 90% of contracts issued online. In the first ten months of 2025 alone, students requested 310,000 contracts.
Additionally, the Government will raise the coefficient used to calculate the first tax bracket from 6 to 8, meaning parents will be able to maintain tax relief even if their children earn more.
Split Student Centre: Strong demand in tourism and trade
SC Split recorded 75,941 student job placements in 2024, confirming robust demand across tourism, hospitality and retail. Popular roles include skippers, tourist guides, housekeeping staff, waiters, cooks, sales assistants and logistics workers.
The average annual student income in Split reached €3,715, with 234 students earning more than €10,800 through the Student Service alone.
A total of 4,150 employers used the centre’s services, underlining the strength of the student labour market.
The centre expects the new thresholds to significantly reduce administrative risks for both students and employers, especially during the busy summer months.
They note that many students have previously halted work at the height of the tourist season to avoid breaching tax-free limits.
Demand is also rising for skilled and specialist work, particularly in IT, programming, analytics and other technical fields. SC Zagreb reports a noticeable increase in students taking on work closely linked to their studies.
Student Council: Call for long-term alignment
The Student Council of the University of Zagreb has welcomed the Government’s decision but warns that a long-term solution is still needed. They argue that minimum hourly rates have risen consistently while tax-free thresholds have remained unchanged for years, creating repeated challenges.
The Council is calling for automatic future adjustments to align thresholds with increases in hourly rates.
They also highlight issues faced by students in regulated professions, such as healthcare, law and certain technical disciplines, who are unable to work in their field during their studies and therefore miss out on practical experience.
A timely boost for students and employers
Student work represents a significant segment of Croatia’s labour market and a crucial source of income for many young people. Both SC Zagreb and SC Split agree that the increased thresholds arrive at the right moment and will stabilise the system, simplify employment and improve living standards.