BRATISLAVA, April 27, (WEBNOVINY) — The Civil Conservative Party (OKS) and representatives of tradesmen associations maintain that payroll taxes for employees should not be reduced at the expense of the self-employed and contract agents. “It should be done by reduced public expenditures,” said OKS Chairman Peter Zajac at a press meeting on Tuesday. He pointed out that tradesmen associations also demand a reduction in payroll levies for employees. He emphasized, however, that changes to the tax and payroll levy system should not be associated with negative impacts on the self-employed and contract agents. “Finance Ministry’s proposal is neither fair nor reformative,” said Zajac.
Finance Minster Ivan Miklos does not intend to give up his fight for votes of OKS coalition deputies although he is not pleased with the communication style they use regarding this issue. “I find it very unfortunate if anybody, a group of deputies, takes a stance in the media and it is then very difficult to make concessions and the stance alone does not indicate that it is the change and reform they are concerned about,” said Miklos at a press meeting on Tuesday.
Miklos confirmed that he was still ready to negotiate and did not rule out further changes to the blueprint of tax and payroll levy system reform. He stressed, however, that preserving the main principles, i.e. simplification of the system and rectification of deformations in the system, is essential. He keeps repeating that a deformed system cannot be reformed without anybody being affected at all. He confirmed that if good proposals are submitted, they will be incorporated in the reform. “That is what parliament is about – discussion and seeking a compromise,” he concluded.
Votes of four deputies of the Civil Conservative Party (OKS), which got in parliament on the candidate list of MOST-HID party, are important for the Finance Minister because the reform would not sail through without them. “I will patiently discuss the issue with OKS deputies because I am interested in their votes because without them, no change would come about. The current system, which is unsustainable, unfair, deformed and inconvenient for everybody, would be preserved,“ said Miklos.
OKS representatives repeatedly said that they would not support any growth in the tax and payroll levy burden for self-proprietors, other self-employed individuals and contract agents. “We’ve said that we will not give a thumbs-up to growth in the tax and payroll levy burden on self-proprietors, other self-employed individuals and contract agents, as well as to other steps,“ stated the party in mid-April.
Following the negotiation marathon lasting several weeks on the shape of the prepared reform of taxes and payroll levies, coalition parties have eventually struck an accord on the issue. Prime Minister Iveta Radicova reported after a meeting of coalition leaders that the agreed-upon reform will basically simplify tax and payroll payments. The Finance Ministry will subsequently submit the fine-tuned draft reform for interdepartmental review and the coalition will open a public discussion on the changes, said the prime minister. Radicova specified that the tax and payroll levy burden will be moderately lower after the reform. Based on the agreement, minimum social and health insurance payments paid by 80 percent of the self-employed should go down from the current EUR 160 to less than EUR 140.
SITA