THE FINANCE Ministry is planning to impose a back tax on stockbrokers. In 2003, when Slovak tax reforms were approved, the ministry made a mistake through which the state lost hundreds of millions of crowns in taxes from the proceeds of stockbrokers prior to 2003.
The new government of Robert Fico wants to gain these taxes back through a measure prepared by the Finance Ministry.
However stockbrokers, which are mainly banks and insurance companies, insist that such a step would be retroactive and would be against the Constitution.
"Now, after several years, a tax should be imposed on an income that was not subject to taxation several years ago according to the rules valid then," Robert Kopál, the head of the stockbrokers association, told the Sme daily.
The ministry denies that such step would be retroactive, but has not explained why it wants to enforce this tax obligation now.
