On Tuesday MPs approved a bill that lowers corporate income tax rate from 23 to 22 percent and introduces the so-called tax licenses. Corporations will purchase tax licenses for the first time in 2015 for the previous fiscal year.
Although the lowering of the income tax rate by one percentage point will cost it part of the tax take, the state projects a surplus of tens of millions of euro annually thanks to the tax licenses. Additionally, the Finance Ministry intends to fight tax evasion in this way. Non-payers of value added tax (VAT) with turnover of up to €500,000 will pay a tax license of €480 per year. VAT payers with turnover of up to €500,000 will send €960 to the state coffers and all entities with turnover exceeding that limit will pay €2,880. New companies will be exempted from this duty in the first year of their existence. The opposition criticized the measure for worsening the business environment in Slovakia.
