APN Approves 4,650 Tax Refund Requests for Young People
As of August 14, 2026, 7,070 applications had been received, with approved grants exceeding €35.2 million. The highest number of approved requests came from the City of Zagreb.
As of August 14, 2026, 7,070 applications had been received, with approved grants exceeding €35.2 million. The highest number of approved requests came from the City of Zagreb.
The Agency for Legal Transactions and Real Estate Mediation (APN) announced on Monday, August 17, 2026, that it had received 7,070 requests for tax refunds on the purchase or construction of a first residential property by August 14. The measure is intended for young citizens and families to help them solve their housing issues more easily, and so far, more than €35.2 million has been approved for payment.
APN has processed 5,950 cases so far. Of these, 4,650 requests were approved, while 235 were sent back for additional documentation. A total of 1,065 requests were rejected or withdrawn because applicants did not meet the legal requirements. Among the rejected ones, 295 (4.96 percent) failed because the property price exceeded the allowed threshold of 50 percent above the average price.
Other reasons for rejection included purchase agreements signed before January 1, 2025, exceeding the age limit, ownership of other properties, and multiple submissions within the same household.
The total value of approved grants reached €35,211,646. Of that, €25,020,498 goes to value-added tax (VAT) refunds, and €10,191,148 to real estate transfer tax (RETT) refunds. Of the 4,650 approved requests, 1,701 relate to VAT and 2,949 to RETT. The average VAT refund is €14,709, the average RETT refund is €3,456, while the average grant per family is €7,672.
The highest number of approved requests, 1,915, came from the City of Zagreb. It is followed by Zagreb County with 437, Split-Dalmatia with 433, Primorje-Gorski Kotar with 332, and Osijek-Baranja with 214 approved requests. Zadar County has 144 approved requests, Istria 143, Vukovar-Srijem 140, Varaždin and Karlovac 115 each, and Dubrovnik-Neretva 99.
In Brod-Posavina County, 81 requests were approved, Koprivnica-Križevci 78, Krapina-Zagorje 76, Sisak-Moslavina 71, and Bjelovar-Bilogora 68. Međimurje County has 55 approved requests, Šibenik-Knin 39, Požega-Slavonia 35, Virovitica-Podravina 33, and Lika-Senj 27.
Grants have been paid to young people in all Croatian counties. Among cities, Zagreb leads with 1,915 approved requests, followed by Split with 250, Rijeka with 190, and Velika Gorica with 156. Osijek and Zadar each have 121 approved requests, Karlovac 85, Zaprešić 78, Solin 58, Varaždin 56, and Slavonski Brod and Vinkovci 52 each.
The average age of applicants is 32 years. The youngest are 18, and the oldest are 44, which is also the upper age limit. The average household has two members, and the largest recorded household has 12 members. The average area of purchased or built properties is 72 square meters.
The smallest property for which a grant was approved is in Primorje-Gorski Kotar County and is only 14 square meters, while the largest, with an area of 259 square meters, was recorded in Istria County. The average property price based on 4,650 approved requests is €2,167 per square meter. The highest price of €5,263 per square meter was recorded in Dubrovnik-Neretva County, and the lowest, €103 per square meter, in Vukovar-Srijem County.
