The EC’s decision to start an in-depth investigation into Poland’s tax on the retail sector is undoubtedly right as this additional tax imposed on large stores is unjustified and harmful. It should be up to a consumer’s individual choice where to go shopping.
Economic slowdowns are always challenging for the state authorities. Expenditure cuts and search for new sources of income often lead to imperfect policy changes. In 2012, KGHM became a victim of a government’s hunt. As a result, the company was forced to pay a new silver and copper extraction tax.
Just a year after the topic of fiscal decentralization briefly entered the public debate in Bulgaria, the political volition for taking actual steps in this direction seems exhausted. The government stifles to a large extent the initiative of local authorities.
After 153 days of work on the account of public institutions, the expenditures of which had to be covered by taxpayers, Liberal Institute together with the Czech society commemorated the Tax Freedom Day on June 2, 2016. The Liberal Institute has celebrated the Tax Freedom Day since 2000.
Piketty’s publication has reignited the debate over taxation. Proponents of higher taxation seized the opportunity to increase taxes. Even some countries of Central Eastern Europe, a region that has traditionally prided itself on flat taxes, have faltered.
Tax Freedom Day comes on May 18. It is a symbolic day in the year when an average taxpayer has paid all the dues to the government and begins to work for him- or herself. The fact that it comes later than in the previous year means that government expenditures has grown more than the country’s economy.
The need for a CMU is clear; capital markets still remain shallow despite the European Union’s founding commitment to the free-flow of capital in the Treaty of Rome. If the green paper’s estimates are correct, 90 million additional euros would be available for business financing in the member-states if capital markets were as deep as the US.
Tax rates are a political decision with fiscal impacts. And despite the fact that all voters are influenced by taxes, at least voters who have a strong opinion on the issue of excise duties (e.g. alcohol, tobacco, etc.) affect the election outcome.
To better understand the need for a change in policy, this article first provides a brief overview of the current legislation and its implementation in member states and then looks at how current proposals for new minimum rates were formed. Finally, it evaluates whether increasing taxes on alcohol is the best course of action.
Slovakia’s example is emblematic of how a government trying to patch up fiscal loopholes turns to targeting incomes of the most vulnerable, using their limited means to solve societal problems. From the government’s perspective, this is often the easiest way to procure the necessary funding.
