BRATISLAVA, September 9, (WEBNOVINY) — Anton Marcincin, MP for the ruling coalition member party KDH is asking Labor Minister Jozef Mihal (SaS) to withdraw the draft bill governing income from dependent activity from parliament. “We have six months to improve it,” the lawmaker addressed the minister during the debate on the legislative format of the tax and payroll levy reform. Marcincin believes that the Cabinet should not implement “too many changes at once.” The reform of the tax and contribution system has already raised many questions, for instance, its impact on working senior citizens, sole-proprietors and artists. The incumbent government “will have a lot of work” to ensure the smoothest possible realization of changes in taxes and social and health insurance contributions.
Peter Zajac, a leader of the OKS party clustered in the MOST-HID deputy club, believes that a just reform of taxes and social insurance contributions cannot go at the cost of self-employed individuals. “Injustice at the cost of the self-employed is not justice,” he stated in parliament. Tax & levy changes detrimental for social groups that form the basis of employment in Slovakia are irrational in his opinion. “We back a gradual reduction of employees’ payroll levies but not at the cost of other social groups,” Zajac repeated the position of his party.
Zajac drew attention to the planned introduction of a monthly 200-euro cap on 40-percent deductible flat expenses, which is in contrast with the initial objective to simplify the system. Opposition SMER-SD lawmaker Lubomir Petrak also slammed the suggested ceiling as a step that will not improve the local business environment. “It is an ordinary hunt for money into the state budget which I do not consider correct,” he noted. Petrak further criticized the proposal to revoke the millionaire tax, because wealthy people would be even better off and the poorer groups would be in a worse situation.
The enactment of the tax & levy reform in the Cabinet-drafted version will cause immense damages, SMER-SD deputy Branislav Ondrus joined the paper’s critics. The super-gross wage will afflict both the citizens and the state. Net income of staffers will grow as of January 1, 2012 versus early 2011 but this move “will completely devastate collective bargaining about higher wages.” What is more, the paper does not provide guidelines for the supper-gross wage switchover of people that change job or work position. He, therefore, suggested that the material be returned to the ministry for additional work.
Deputy Parliament Speaker Milan Hort closed the Friday’s session shortly after 3 p.m. The deputies will convene on Tuesday at 9 a.m. again, starting with a report on Slovakia’ seventh year in the EU. Afterwards they will resume the discussion about the tax & levy reform.
SITA