Economy
Hungarian gov't open to discuss introducing personal insolvency - Lázár
- The government has mandated Economy Minister Mihály Varga to submit the 2016 draft budget to Parliament and lawmakers should vote on it by the end of June.
- Next year will be about tax reductions. The government aims to introduce a single-digit personal income tax rate in the future. To this end it will lower the PIT rate to 15% from 16% in 2016. Lázár said this cut will leave HUF 110-120 bn more in Hungarian pockets.
- The government is also preparing for a social debate as to which fee, tax or contribution should be lowered next. Government offices have until the autumn of 2015 to make this call and they will have to organize this consultation too.
- A final decision has been reached on the advertising tax too. The highest rate will be 5.3% and companies with annual revenues of up to HUF 100 million will be exempted.
- The government also decided that tobacco producers will have to pay HUF 11.5 billion into state coffers annually in form of a public health care contribution.
- Lázár also said the government will give the go-ahead to municipalities to exempt general practitioners from paying the local business tax, which means they may not have to pay this levy from 2016.
- After hearing the opinion of the Minister of Justice about the personal bankruptcy, the government is of the view that if the KDNP submits a proposal in this context then parliament will be able to hold a sensible debate about it and the government is open to this measure, Lázár said. Personal insolvency may offer a solution to many long-standing problems, he added.
- At the same time, the government finds it important to consult with the banks about this matter, because of the agreement it signed with the EBRD earlier this year.
- Asked whether the cabinet plans to amend legislation in light of the recently published results of surveys which showed that two thirds of Hungarians are against the Sunday closure of retail stores , Lázár said: “No." He said that a previous projection proved to be correct as it turned out that people actually buy more in six days then they did on seven. The reason, he guessed, is that people go shopping on Fridays and Saturdays and in many cases they buy more than then need.
- Government spokesman András Giró-Szász added that data from online cash registers show that weekly retail sales increased to HUF 151 bn from HUF 143 bn since the implementation of the measure on 15 March.
