This paper presents a comparison of the system of value added tax after the independence of the Republic of Croatia and the accession to the European Union. It is important to note that VAT is the most important and the most expensive tax form in Croatia, so the purpose of this work is to present and explain the basic facts and concepts related to the value added tax that came before and after the accession of the Republic of Croatia to the European Union on July 1st 2013. Value added tax regulations were then aligned with the legal acquis of European Union, and ensured that the value added tax system in the Republic of Croatia functions in the same way as the "common market of the European Union", the Directives and the EU Regulation apply. By accessing European Union, value added tax system uses new elements. Some of them, such as the acquisition of goods within the EU, the supply of goods within the EU, the transfer of goods, the distance selling, the import of goods, the place of delivery of goods, the transfer of tax liabilities, the deduction of the VAT receipts within the European Union, the rules for registration of new taxpayers, are explained in this work. In addition to the mentioned work, it also contains value added tax information before the Republic of Croatia's entry into the European Union, its main characteristics and features to make it easier and more transparent to compare the changes. It should be noted that the Republic of Croatia is subject to frequent amendments to the law, so this paper presents all the changes that have been made to the value added tax before and after the accession of the Republic of Croatia to the European Union in order to show the frequency of changes in the area.