Prime Minister Gordon Bajnai told public television on Monday that the government planned a “fair” property tax that aims to put the least burden on poor people such as pensioners.
Bajnai said that revenues from the tax were expected to be in the region of several tens of billions of forints.
He said there were several property tax models to choose from, but the tax would be progressive, putting the greatest burden on households with a higher property value.
Asked whether he would ask Brussels to ease the requirement that Hungary’s budget deficit should not exceed 3 percent of gross domestic product, the prime minister said that Hungary was capable of sticking to its target, even if the economy ended up contracting by 6 percent this year.
“If there is an opportunity which offers Hungary a faster path towards stability without upsetting balance and trust then we are ready to discuss it, but we will not be the ones to initiate [such a discussion],” he said.
Finance Minister Peter Oszko told Monday’s Nepszabadsag daily that he had not mentioned any concrete budget deficit target during his visit to Washington at the weekend to attend talks with the International Monetary Fund. He denied a report quoting him as saying that Hungary’s budget gap would be 2.9 percent of GDP, only saying that the government strived to lower the budget deficit.
Bajnai said that his Tuesday visit to Brussels, where he will meet the commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso, was about demonstrating that Hungary was capable of pulling itself out of the crisis and was capable of paying off its national debt in a stable manner over the long term.
I just love how they mention economic stability and more taxes almost in the same breath.
One of the reasons Hungary is in such a mess is due to the high taxes necessitating (not encouraging) a black market.
I believe one of the only ways out of the current hole is to slash taxes to acceptable level and enforce payment. That way, they will get more tax revenue, the population will in general have more disposable income and hey presto, the economy is stimulated.
Did you spot the rocket science? Thought not !
What a breath of fresh air you are to these pages, JD.
A clear-thinking individual who has both feet in the Present, and offers direct and “workable” solutions to Hungary’s tax problems.
The difficulty is, though, 2+2 never does = 4, in this green, and corrupt land!
It’s about high time that PM Gordon Bajnai goes to Brussels and tells those bungling, money-grabbing Eurotrash Eurocrats with Barroso on the top of the garbage heap to cough up a lot more money for Hungary right now – or else. We need the dough, Bro’! The EU got us into this whole economic mess, the EU has got to pay out way out of it. And by jolly, they will.
Most Hungarians did not even want to join the EU or NATO, and somwehow, the country was suckered into both piles of sordid mess.
@Nyalasi. “The EU got us into this mess”? Huh? I think it not; I think HU got itself into this mess. Brussels didn’t create the crazy tax regime; the bottomless hole that HU parliamentarians chucked money into; the scams that syphoned off money…
Many thanks for the praise A.Fiscal-Policy, you are too kind. I wouldn’t go as far to say this constitutes an economic policy but it just seems such an obvious positive step.
I also share your opinion of the disconnect between the bleeding obvious and what is put in practice here.
Here
2 + 2 = 1 after tax