BRATISLAVA, November 26, (WEBNOVINY) — The Finance Ministry wants to tax companies’ proceeds from sale of emission allowances within the next two years. The tax rate should be 80 percent. Finance Minister Ivan Miklos told a news conference on Friday that the measure should raise additional income for the state budget , which would at least partly cover the loss incurred by the previous government of Robert Fico. Miklos explained that the previous government did not act in the public interest when it distributed emission allowances to industrial companies but followed the interests of individual businesses. The minister expects an additional EUR 150 million to flow to state coffers from the additional tax.
The Finance Ministry’s new leadership criticizes the previous government of Robert Fico also for disproportional allocation of emission allowances to firms and its extreme generosity to several companies. The proposed additional taxation of revenues from sales of emission allowances should affect roughly 133 firms.
According to the director of the Finance Ministry’s Financial Policy Institute Jan Toth, the proposed taxation will regard no only sale of overly allocated allowances but also their holding. The ministry plans to introduce the additional tax in an amending proposal to the income tax law.
Slovak companies which participate in the European scheme of trading in emission allowances have to cover emissions of greenhouse gases with allowances which they are allocated free of charge. The Financial Policy Institute insists that most Slovak companies received more allowances for 2008-2012 than they really needed. For the first two years, the percentage of over-allocation for Slovak companies was the highest in the EU, said the institute. According to the ministry, the steel maker US. Steel Kosice is the firm with the absolutely highest over-allocation, amounting to EUR 83.5 million in 2008 and 2009. Then the energy company Slovenske Elektrarne and the oil refiner Slovnaft follow.
SITA