Fiscalization in Croatia for Trainers and Gyms (2026)

Do personal trainers and gyms in Croatia have to fiscalise receipts in 2026?

Yes. From 1 January 2026, Croatia fiscalises every receipt issued to a consumer, whatever the payment method: cash, card at the desk, card online and bank transfer. Fiscalisation (fiskalizacija) means each receipt is reported to the Tax Administration in real time and gets a code back. It applies to a personal trainer running a flat-rate sole trade (paušalni obrt) just as it does to a gym. For invoices to businesses, e-invoices (eRačuni) have been introduced: VAT-registered businesses issue them from 1 January 2026, while flat-rate traders and others outside the VAT system receive them from 2026 and issue them from 1 January 2027.

The most confusion I see is among trainers who charge for online coaching by card. For a long time, payments into a bank account were not fiscalised, so many assume online payments fall into the same category. From 2026 that is no longer the case. Below are the rules, tables and concrete situations from trainer and gym practice.

This is not tax advice. The rules depend on how your business is set up, so check your case with a bookkeeper or the Tax Administration (Porezna uprava).

Fiscalisation 1.0 and 2.0: what is the difference?

The legal basis is the new Fiscalisation Act (Zakon o fiskalizaciji, NN 89/25). In practice people talk about two parts: fiscalisation of receipts to final consumers (B2C) and fiscalisation of e-invoices between businesses (B2B).

The JIR is the unique receipt identifier returned by the Tax Administration, and the ZKI is the issuer's protection code. Sources: Tax Administration pages on receipts to final consumers, the updated guidance from January 2026 and fiscalisation of e-invoices.

Is there an exemption for trainers or online payments?

No. Exemptions from fiscalisation only cover activities measured by quantity, such as supplies of electricity, gas and water, public communications and insurance. According to the Tax Administration's list of exemptions, fitness and online card payments are not among them.

Flat-rate sole trade for a personal trainer: the 2026 numbers

Most personal trainers in Croatia work through a sole trade (obrt), often taxed on a flat-rate basis (paušalni obrt). Flat-rate taxation is possible up to €60,000 of total annual receipts, which equals the VAT registration threshold. A trainer who is not in the VAT system does not charge VAT on training.

Contributions and tax according to the overviews by Moj novac and Fiskalopedija; VAT rates and the threshold according to the Tax Administration. The 2027 proposal is not law yet, so do not treat it as settled.

To put this next to prices: a one-to-one session costs €25 at one Zagreb gym (ALTIS price list), €30-35 in Rijeka and €30-40 in Split, according to public price lists of gyms and trainers. You can easily work out how many sessions a week take you to which limit. There is more on prices by city in the article on personal trainer prices by city.

What it means when you charge by card online

This is the part that changed most in 2026. When a client pays for monthly coaching or a training package by card over the internet, the payment processor (Stripe, PayPal or a bank) sends a payment confirmation. That confirmation is not a fiscal receipt. For every successful payment you have to issue a receipt with a JIR, ZKI and QR code from your own fiscal program.

With subscriptions, the trap is in automatic renewals. The client signs up once and the card is charged every month. Each of those charges is a new receipt that has to be fiscalised. If you have twenty online clients on a monthly subscription, that is twenty fiscal receipts a month, not one at the first sign-up.

Situations from practice

The most common mistake: a trainer who keeps issuing ordinary invoices for online payments because that is how it worked until 2025. The second one: a gym that switches on online membership sales, and nobody is put in charge of the fiscal receipts for the repeat payments. Agree right away who issues those receipts and when.

E-invoices: receiving already applies now

Flat-rate traders often think Fiscalisation 2.0 only reaches them in 2027. Issuing, yes, but receiving e-invoices applies from 1 January 2026. If a gym invoices you for renting space for your clients, or you buy equipment from a VAT-registered company, that invoice arrives as an e-invoice and you have to be able to receive it. For businesses outside the VAT system, the Tax Administration offers the free MIKROeRAČUN app, so you do not have to commit to a paid program straight away.

Trainera and fiscalisation: what it does and what it does not

Clearly and without hedging: Trainera is not a fiscal cash register, it does not issue fiscal receipts and it does not send e-invoices, not in Croatia, Serbia or Montenegro. Alongside Trainera you need your own fiscal solution.

What Trainera does:

• For personal trainers: the payment models Request only (the price is agreed outside the app), Monthly subscription (card, with Apple Pay and Google Pay), Plan-based and Cash payments. Trainers also have PayPal and bank transfer as options. You can add a client manually and record a cash payment, which suits in-person training.
• For gyms: membership packages in euro, online card sales through the gym's own Stripe account with no Trainera fee (Stripe bills its own fee directly to the gym), and recording of payments taken at reception, in cash or by bank transfer.

A workflow that makes sense: the payment happens in Trainera or at the desk, and for each payment you issue a fiscal receipt from your own program. The payment is recorded in Trainera, so you can see who paid and until when the package is valid. A useful habit: once a week, compare the list of payments with the receipts issued so that no renewal slips through.

Prices for Croatia on trainera.fit/pricing: for trainers, Starter from €19.99, Pro from €44.99 and Business from €84.99 a month, plus a free plan for 3 clients; for gyms, Core from €89, White Label from €169 and Studio from €189 a month. What else a gym in Croatia needs from its software, besides fiscalisation, is covered in the guide to gym software in Croatia, and collecting membership fees by card and cash in the article on gym payment software.

A short note on Serbia and Montenegro

If you work with clients or run a gym in the neighbouring countries too, different rules apply there. Both countries have had real-time electronic fiscalisation for several years.

In those countries, too, Trainera does not issue fiscal receipts. Check the details with a local bookkeeper.

A checklist for your first month

1. List every way your clients pay you: cash, card at the desk, online card, PayPal, bank transfer.
2. For each method, decide which program issues the fiscal receipt and who does it.
3. For subscriptions, agree on a rhythm: a receipt right after each charge, or a daily check of payments.
4. If you are a flat-rate trader working with companies, get ready to issue e-invoices from 1 January 2027 and look at the free MIKROeRAČUN.
5. Track your receipts against the €60,000 limit and the proposed new brackets for 2027.
6. Once a month, compare the list of payments in your software with the receipts you issued.

Trainera handles clients, members, packages and payments while you keep your own fiscal solution: see gym software or the app for personal trainers.