THE GOVERNMENT has backed proposed amendments to the social insurance law and the health insurance law. Both proposals deal with the calculation of payroll taxes. If they are approved by parliament, these taxes will no longer be linked to the minimum wage. Instead, from January 1, 2010, the basis for their calculation should be 44.2 percent of the average wage, SITA reported.
The basis for 2010 would be calculated as 44.2 percent of the average wage in 2008. According to data from the Statistics Office, the average wage in 2008 was €723.03. This would make the basis for calculating minimum payroll taxes for the self-employed €319.58, representing a rise of 8.1 percent year-on-year.
At the moment, the minimum wage used as the basis for calculation of payments by the self-employed is €295.50. They pay at least €97.50 towards pensions and a minimum of €41.37 for health insurance.
The amendment should mean a slower increase in payroll taxes for the self-employed, since the minimum wage is set by the government and is increased by at last the rate of growth of the average wage in Slovakia.
The proposed amendment to the social insurance law also includes a temporary lowering of payroll tax payments to the reserve solidarity fund for the self-employed from today’s 4.75 percent to 2 percent of the calculation base for self-employed people. This would reduce the lowest payroll tax contribution towards pensions by €8.10, to a minimum of €89.70.
