Croatia treats a gym as a regulated sports activity. The Sports Act defines a fitness centre to include a room with weights or machines, and the business must be entered in a register of the Ministry of Tourism and Sport before it opens. Gym access is at the standard 25% PDV. Since 2026, every receipt to a consumer must be fiscalized, including online card payments. Sparekey costs €990 for setup and €26 a month for Operations.
Business form and the Sports Act register
You can register an obrt (no capital), a j.d.o.o. (€1) or a d.o.o. (€2,500) online through the START platform. Then comes the sports register:
- An obrt registered as a fitness centre (NKD 93.13) needs an entry in the Evidencija obrta, and that entry requires proof of qualification at instructor or trainer level.
- A company must be entered in the Evidencija pravnih osoba u sportu before it starts, and may not engage unqualified people for exercise programmes.
Managing a sports facility (NKD 93.11) needs no qualification. The Act does not say whether renting a whole gym by the hour without instruction counts as a fitness centre or as managing a facility, and the Ministry decides in case of doubt. Ask the Directorate for Sport before you register, and get the answer in writing. It can decide whether you need a qualified instructor at all.
PDV
The reduced rates do not cover gym use, so it is taxed at 25%. Below €60,000 of annual turnover you are outside the PDV system and can run an obrt on a flat-rate basis.
Fiskalizacija 2.0
Every receipt to a consumer must be reported to the Tax Administration, whatever the payment method: cash, card, transfer or online payment. You need fiscalization-capable invoicing software with a digital certificate, your premises registered in ePorezna, an internal act on numbering and a bound receipt book as a fallback. For businesses that don’t serve customers on site, receipts can be issued outside working hours if the order proves the service was used, and an online booking is such a record.
Invoices between businesses are e-invoices (eRačun). Businesses outside the PDV register must issue them from 2027.
Sparekey issues an invoice for every paid booking and exports bookings and payments as a CSV file. Agree with your accountant which fiscalization software issues the fiscalized receipts. We set up the booking data to fit that setup.
Payments
In Croatia we set up Stripe with cards (Visa, Mastercard, Maestro), Apple Pay and Google Pay, with payouts in euros to your Croatian account. The account is in your name, and setup is included. Card and wallet payments are instant, so the door code goes out straight after booking.
Door access
We recommend a 2N keypad with a maglock, installed by a professional door installer. Nuki is the cheaper alternative on the existing lock, but it cannot be secured as well against customers tampering with it. Both cost the same in Sparekey. Each booking gets a time-limited PIN by SMS under your gym’s name, and the stored backup code covers internet outages. See 2N keypad and maglock.
Cameras, insurance and house rules
The Croatian GDPR implementation act sets specific camera rules: a sign visible at entry with your details, access only for authorised people, an automatic log of every viewing, and retention of at most six months. No cameras in changing rooms or washrooms. The authority is AZOP. See cameras in an unstaffed gym.
Insurance is not required by the Sports Act, but a liability policy is the usual protection. Tell the insurer that nobody works on site. Write house rules (kućni red) in Croatian and English. See insurance and liability.
What Sparekey costs in Croatia
| Item | Price |
|---|---|
| Setup (one-off) | €990 |
| Operations (hosting, maintenance and SMS sender name) | €26 / month |
| Door-code SMS | €0.09 per message |
No VAT is added, because Sparekey is not VAT-registered. You pay in euros by bank transfer. See pricing.
FAQ
Do I need a qualification to open a gym in Croatia?
An obrt registered as a fitness centre needs proof of qualification. Managing a sports facility does not. Ask the Directorate for Sport which applies to an hourly rental gym.
Do online card payments have to be fiscalized?
Yes. Under Fiskalizacija 2.0, receipts to consumers are fiscalized whatever the payment method.