Tax licences represent nothing other than bringing in another tax and will damage the business environment in Slovakia, say representatives of the People's Platform parties, Most-Hid, SDKU-DS, the Christian Democrats. According to Most-Hid MP Ivan Švejna, such tax licences are one of the worst measures that the incumbent Government could have chosen.
“The measure will cause extensive damage to the business environment,” said Švejna at a press briefing on Tuesday. “The Christian Democrats rejects this new tax because it will damage employment in Slovakia. The Government is discouraging people from starting their own businesses. And fewer entrepreneurs equals fewer jobs,” said Christian Democrat vice-chair Miloš Moravčík, adding that the first three years of any new business are a matter of getting on top of initial debt, a fact not accounted for in the tax licences. According to SDKU-DS MP Ivan Štefanec, the Government created desired figures for tax revenue and now has to find ways to turn such wishful thinking into reality. “The proposal of this new tax is as absurd as a tax on moustaches or hats from the long-gone past. In its effort to squeeze more and more money out of people, the Government came up with this absurd tax on loss-makers. We completely reject it, seeing as it will only bring Slovakia to a worse situation than it already finds itself in and will worsen the country’s already bad unemployment figures,” claimed Štefanec, adding that the Government should instead focus on lifting the tax and levy burden from businesses. Such criticism doesn't sit well with the Finance Ministry, however. Speaking in reaction to the criticism from opposition parties, the ministry press department pointed out that the self-employed entities will not be affected by the tax licences at all. “Similarly, protected workshops will be exempted from paying tax licences, too. The purpose of the licence is to impose a tax on those companies that have evaded paying taxes long-term, not on honest firms that meet their duties but have suffered a few bad years,” stressed the ministry. Additionally, the ministry pointed out that businesses currently paying taxes exceeding the licence amount won't pay a single euro more. On the contrary, they'll see their income tax reduced,” referencing the business income tax rate dropped from 23 percent to 22.
