MPs failed to discuss a draft amendment to the financial transaction tax sponsored by the junior governing Slovak National Party (SNS) at a special House session on Tuesday, and they will not return to it until the next regular session scheduled for September.
Although MPs did manage to open the special session and approve its agenda, the plenum was unable to deal with the amendment at its second reading, as the committees' debate on it was previously postponed. Therefore, the session was subsequently concluded, with the issue in question being included in the agenda of the session due to start on September 9.
The special parliamentary session was initiated by the opposition. Its goal was to approve the scrapping of the transaction tax for tradespeople and small firms, as proposed by SNS, as soon as possible. However, the coalition had already previously indicated its intention to approve the changes to the transaction tax, which have already made it to its second reading, no earlier than at the next regular session of parliament in September.
In line with SNS's proposal, tradesmen and small firms with turnovers not exceeding €100,000 should no longer have to pay this tax as of October. The draft amendment was backed by 146 of the 147 MPs present for the vote last week (3 June).
SNS's draft has long been supported by the opposition, but there was no consensus about the issue within the coalition. The coalition Smer-SD, Hlas-SD and SNS parties finally agreed to narrow the scope of the transaction tax. They intend to compensate for the shortfall in the 2025 stage budget by lowering the number of public holidays. November 17, the Day of the Struggle for Freedom and Democracy, will thus no longer be a public holiday.
The coalition parties have said that a working group will sit during the summer to deal with various technicalities regarding the transaction tax. The agreed changes should then be incorporated in the amendment at its second reading in September.
Source: TASR
