SPECIFICITY OF THE TERM VAT GROUPING AND VARIABILITY OF ITS IMPLEMENTATION.

The term VAT grouping is a current term in EU tax systems and serves as an instrument of simplification of tax administration and a means of combating tax fraud. The complexity of EU market and the existence of various legal solutions in the framework of national legislation impose additional costs onto entrepreneurs, making the European Union a less attractive investment destination. In the framework of the studied topic, the establishment of the single market calls for the harmonisation of national legislation of all member states as well as the definition of the VAT grouping mechanism by precisely defining the national VAT group limitation. When the Republic of Croatia became the member of EU and by the implementation of the Council Directive 2006/112/EC conditions to implement this mechanism were met. The Republic of Croatia did not use the option of implementing the term of group registration, which points to the conclusion that that was an intentional choice of Croatian national tax system's creators. However, the absence of scientific and expert discussions as well as of any targeted actions in the aforesaid direction suggests that such a solution has not been an intentional choice in the Republic of Croatia after all. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]