By: STA, C. R.
Prime Minister Janez Janša wants to reduce the tax burden on labour. Such measures are included in the Development Act, which trade unions are currently blocking, while an opposition proposal before the National Assembly is reportedly moving in a similar direction, he said. “There is some hope that we will achieve these changes and that they will become a shared decision,” he stated in response to a parliamentary question from Iva Dimic.
Iva Dimic (NSi, SLS, Fokus) today asked Prime Minister Janez Janša in the National Assembly whether the government plans to amend the general income tax allowance or introduce similar measures aimed at increasing the net wages of all employees. She highlighted the positive aspects of the Act on Intervention Measures for the Development of Slovenia, which is currently blocked and will be decided upon by voters in a legislative referendum on 6 December.
“During the previous term, our mini tax reform was halted halfway through, and because of that, someone earning an average salary lost €2,500, while the economy lost, or failed to gain, part of its competitive advantage,” Janša said. According to him, the opposition’s legislative proposal could be improved “I will not discuss specific figures because the Strategic Council for the Economy is finalising its proposals for tax reform, on the basis of which expert calculations will then be carried out,” he explained.
Janša pointed to what he described as a direct link between the positive effects of the development cap and a higher general income tax allowance, since both reduce the tax burden on labour. “The excessive taxation of labour is one of the key obstacles to increasing Slovenia’s competitiveness,” he said. He argued that opponents of the Development Act have based their campaign primarily on opposition to the cap on social security contributions. In his words, however, the law is: “A law that will enable this generation, our children, and our grandchildren to become prosperous, rather than allowing only those who proposed the referendum to become prosperous.”
Janša added that not all work in Slovenia is taxed equally. According to him, lower-paid work remains competitive, attracting industry to Slovenia, but wages and value added remain relatively low, allowing countries such as Croatia to catch up. Once earnings reach the middle-income range, however, the tax burden becomes excessive. “The development cap enables growth, higher wages, and greater prosperity for everyone. It helps us create an environment in which more people can become prosperous and be fairly compensated for their work,” he emphasised.
Janša said he is convinced that voters will approve the law. Had it already been in force, it would not only have reduced the tax burden but also enabled a nine-month reduction in tax on part of the cost of energy products, which he said would have lowered prices by around 10%. “Anyone complaining about their utility bills should be able to connect the price they pay for energy with a measure that is currently being blocked. We are at least two months behind. If the law is approved in December, as I believe it will be, it will apply going forward, not retroactively, and people will once again be paying money out of their own pockets that they would not have needed to pay,” he argued.
Referring to high energy prices, Janša recalled discussions at a recent EU summit in Brussels. “This was the main topic because Europe failed to achieve its goal of strategic autonomy, which was the true objective of the green transition, not climate warming. Nuclear energy was excluded, while electrification is only at its beginning, not its end. Had it started earlier, we would not be facing these problems, and we still need another twenty years,” he said. According to Janša, this winter will be challenging, and the government’s objective is to use all available room for manoeuvre to stabilise energy prices and keep them as low as possible.