Government does not fight tax evasion

The number of detected tax fraud cases in Slovakia fell from 50 in 2021 to 11 last year, and detected cases of tax and payroll levy evasion fell from 475 to 149, police statistics show. However, the situation is not improving, with European Chief Prosecutor Laura Kövesi recently warning that Slovakia is becoming a hub for tax fraudsters in the EU. In addition to the current coalition’s unwillingness to fight tax fraud, the improvement in statistics is also due to changes in the penal code, whereby, for example, attempting to illegally claim a VAT refund up to €100,000 is not a criminal offense. The result is growth in the so-called VAT gap, the difference between ideal and actual VAT intake. Under the current government, it rose from 10.5% to 14.6%, according to EU data. Even the new and higher taxes introduced by the current coalition brought in less money than the government had planned.

(sme.sk)