THE MILLIONAIRE tax in Slovakia, which the new government wants to introduce for people with higher income levels, will most likely be approved in Slovakia. The final form however, will not be in the form recently suggested by PM Robert Fico, the SME daily wrote.
Fico said at the beginning of this week that a higher income tax might apply to people who earn Sk50,000-Sk60,000 (€1,320-€1,590) per month. According to the Trexima Agency, which collects statistical data, approximately 3 percent of Slovaks, or 50,000 people, earn such a wage.
Fico's coalition partners, however, do not like the limit suggested by Fico. Jozef Ďuračka, a member of the coalition Slovak National Party (SNS) and a member of the parliamentary finance committee, said that the higher tax for this group of people might cause damage to the country's middle class, which he says is the moving force of the economy.
"It would be better to stimulate lower [income] groups rather than taking away money from those who earn more," added his party associate Rafael Rafaj.
The SNS, as well as the second coalition partner, the Movement for a Democratic Slovakia (HZDS), said that they would support a higher income tax for people with high wages but that they will try to move the limit higher.
Sergej Kozlík, a member of the European Parliament for HZDS and who in the past served as Slovakia's finance minister, said that the coalition has not yet agreed on the limit. He also thinks that it should be higher than the wage band suggested by Fico.
"If this is a millionaire tax, I would be inclined to see it apply to people who earn above Sk1 million per year," he said to SME.
14. Aug 2006 at 0:00 | From press reports
