Best stock brokers & investing apps in Croatia

• 8 stock brokers & investing apps with a verified licence serve residents of Croatia: 8 serve under an EU passport.
• Top pick by Coinish Score: Interactive Brokers (71/100, Editor Rating 4.1/5).
• $0 commission on US stocks: Trading 212 and NAGA.
• Lowest minimum deposit: $50 (NAGA).

Ranked by Coinish Score: half the Editor Rating for the entity that serves residents of Croatia, half Market Signal. Brokers without enough verified data for a rating are placed by Market Signal and labelled; brokers with neither are listed last. How we rate

Of the 8 stock brokers & investing apps on this list, 5 serve Croatia from a CySEC licence in Cyprus (eToro, Trading 212, NAGA and 2 more), 1 serves Croatia from a CBI licence in Ireland (Interactive Brokers), 1 serves Croatia from a Finantsinspektsioon licence in Estonia (Lightyear) and 1 serves Croatia from a BaFin licence in Germany (DEGIRO).

Currency conversion, which you pay on every US share bought from a non-dollar account, costs from 0.25% (DEGIRO) to 0.35% (Lightyear). DEGIRO charges €2 per order for US stocks.

• Search the company name on the HANFA register (hanfa.hr); for a firm licensed elsewhere, on its home regulator's register too (CySEC, CBI and Finantsinspektsioon for most of this list).
• Check which company your contract is with. Interactive Brokers, for example, onboards residents of Croatia through Interactive Brokers Ireland Limited (CBI licence C423427), and the name on the account-opening documents should match the list.

Yes, with a licensed provider. Brokers need MiFID II authorisation from an EEA regulator; firms authorised elsewhere in the EEA may serve residents under the European passport.

Source: hanfa.hr

By Coinish Score, Interactive Brokers (71/100, Editor Rating 4.1/5), through Interactive Brokers Ireland Limited (CBI licence C423427). eToro (71) and Trading 212 (67) follow. The score rates the company that would serve you in Croatia, so the same brand can rank differently in another country.

Yes. A firm authorised under MiFID II in one EEA country can serve residents of the others once its home regulator has notified them. All 8 on this list reach Croatia that way, most from Cyprus (5), Ireland (1) and Estonia (1).

The home regulator supervises the firm and its compensation scheme applies, while HANFA can still set conduct rules for clients in Croatia.

If a broker fails, the compensation scheme of the regulator that licenses it applies, not one chosen by where you live. For this list: Investor Compensation Fund (Cyprus): 90% of covered claims, up to €20,000 for clients of CySEC-licensed investment firms (5 on this list); Investor Compensation Company (ICCL): 90% of the loss, up to €20,000 per investor for clients of CBI-licensed investment firms (1 on this list); Entschädigungseinrichtung der Wertpapierhandelsunternehmen (EdW): 90% of the claim, up to €20,000 per investor for clients of BaFin-licensed investment firms (1 on this list). Compensation covers missing client money and assets after a firm's failure, never trading losses.

Sources: cysec.gov.cy, investorcompensation.ie, e-d-w.de

Capital gains on financial assets are taxed at 12%. You calculate the tax yourself for the whole previous year, net of any realised losses, and pay it by the last day of February. Alternatively, the central depository SKDD can keep the records, work out the tax on all your financial assets and report it for you. Capital losses can only be deducted from gains of the same calendar year. Dividends are taxed at 12%, withheld when they are paid.

Coinish isn't a tax adviser: check your own situation with the tax authority or an accountant.

Sources: porezna-uprava.gov.hr (1), porezna-uprava.gov.hr (2)