Entrepreneurs are informed that the State Aid Rules in Research & Development Projects was published in the Official Gazette No. 9/2019 of 25th of January 2019, laying down the procedure to establish whether the conditions are met to exercise the right to an additional reduction of the profit tax or income tax base for justified and eligible costs of research & development projects and feasibility studies, the procedure for granting aid, the method of exercising the right, the method of monitoring the project implementation and other issues related to exercising the right to state aid in accordance with the Act on State Aid for Research & Development Projects (Official Gazette 64/2018). The Rules enter into force on the eighth day after its publication.

Eligible applicants: legal and natural persons, small, medium-sized and large enterprises.

The objective of this call is to increase private sector investment in research & development, to increase the number of entrepreneurs who invest in research & development and to encourage the cooperation of entrepreneurs with organizations for research & dissemination of knowledge on research & development projects.

Research & development activities must include five basic criteria: new knowledge (as the goal of the activity), creative (new concepts, ideas and methods that improve existing knowledge), uncertain in terms of outcomes, systematic (planned with provision of funds and recording of outcomes) and transferable (outcomes are transferable as new knowledge) and/or repeatable (repeatable outcomes).

The aid in terms of this call refers to tax relief for research & development projects.

The period of realization of the project based which the aid is realized can last up to three years from the project beginning.

Eligible costs of research & development projects are as follows:
- personnel costs
- depreciation costs of instruments and equipment
- costs of research carried out pursuant to contracts, knowledge and patents that are acquired or licensed from other parties under market conditions
- costs of consulting and similar services that are used exclusively for the project
- business expenses (costs of materials, consumables and similar products) incurred directly as a result of the project
- additional overhead costs

The application for granting state aid for research & development projects is submitted to the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development, as the grantor, directly or by mail. The implementation of activities in the grant procedure is entrusted to the Croatian Agency for SMEs, Innovation and Investments – HAMAG-BICRO, as the Intermediate Body.