Coalition plans tax cuts

The coalition party SNS will propose cutting the corporate income tax from 21% to 15% and the VAT on food and print media from 20% to 10%. It also wants to abolish the TV license fee for seniors and require restaurants to state the country of origin of the meat they serve. The party does not want the Coalition Council and the government to discuss the proposals first, but will submit the proposals directly to parliament. Finance Minister Peter Kažimír (Smer) says the proposals could dig a €1.5bn (2% of GDP) hole in next year’s state budget. Most-Híd condemned the proposal and says it was the Smer party that launched the populism race by proposing an increase in the minimum wage to €600 without consulting coalition partners first.

PM Peter Pellegrini said that the coalition will discuss the SNS proposals, but he would rather cut taxes for workers. He argues that multinationals pay 80% of corporate income tax, so a tax cut would only mean higher dividends paid abroad.

Danko deems it a violation of the Coalition Treaty that Finance Minister Peter Kažimír is commenting on the proposals. “There is a political agreement that Peter Kažimír won’t take part in forming the 2020 state budget,” he explained. Deputy PM Richard Raši (Smer) said Smer is yet to decide on a new finance minister and is considering other names besides František Imrecze and Ladislav Kamenický.

(SME/1)