The Slovakian Movement rejects further consolidation measures that would reduce the incomes of residents and he wants to focus on fraud detection and better tax collection. In the Sunday discussion show Politika 24 on Joj 24, the deputy of the movement Július Jakab said this. According to him, the introduction of a flat tax, which is advocated for example by the opposition party SaS, is not a panacea, as it would, among other things, increase the prices of basic foods.
- The Slovakia Movement rejects consolidation steps that reduce people’s incomes, prefers better tax collection.
- Július Jakab claims that a flat tax would significantly increase the price of basic foods.
- The Slovakian Movement advocates higher penalties for tax fraud and more intensive detection.
- Jakab requests the restoration of the extraordinary taxation of Slovnaft and the introduction of taxes for arms companies.
- Jakab wants a broad opposition coalition against Fico, he refuses cooperation with Smer and Republika.
“Just saying a flat tax is not a panacea right now. Because you see different tax rates,” said Jakab. In 2004, when a flat tax replaced progressive taxation, it was a significant change, according to Jakab. But currently, according to him, a flat tax would bring, among other things, an increase in the prices of basic foods from 5% to perhaps up to 20%.
According to Jakab, the Slovakian Movement is pushing for an increase in penalty rates for tax fraud and its detection. He claimed that under the government of the current opposition, they were able to collect two billion euros more in taxes compared to the forecast. However, at the time of the pandemic, a large part of the business moved to a virtual environment, where it is not possible to hide income.
The second measure is according to Jakab, a return to extraordinary taxation of the Slovnaft refinery, which has so far benefited from the lower prices of Russian oil, but according to the MP, this has not been reflected in fuel prices compared to other states. “It’s just that the tax has to be when they process Russian oil,” he emphasized. According to Jakab, the government coalition allowed Slovnaft to avoid the extraordinary profit tax during the 2.5 years of its rule.
Similarly, the Slovensko Movement would like to tax the profits of arms companies in a special way, which, according to Jakab, are making money from the war in Ukraine and would also like to find money in higher gambling taxation.
The MP also spoke about the situation in the Slovakian Movement and relations in the opposition. “You have to be ambitious in politics,” he responded to the question of whether he has the ambition to be the chairman of the movement. At the same time, however, he added that he has no ambition for any position and the priority is to defeat the Prime Minister and head of Smer-SD Robert Fico. It is not important for him to decide who could replace the leader of the movement Igor Matovič.
He reiterated that the PS should form a broad coalition before the parliamentary elections in an attempt to defeat Fico, as there is a risk of losing votes. According to Jakab, voters will decide who are the ideal partners for cooperation. “We clearly and in my opinion were the first to say who we will not rule with, and that is the mafia. And we consider Smer, Hlas, SNS and the Republic movement to be that mafia,” he stated. PS leader Michal Šimečka considers Jakab a weak leader. According to him, even the voters feel it. He added that this position could be held, for example, by PS deputy Beáta Jurík or the head of the movement’s parliamentary club Zuzana Mesterová.
