By: A. H. (nova24tv.si)
“Levica’s newsletter: It is not that social assistance is too high, but that wages are too low,” announced the coalition party Levica via social media platforms X and Facebook. It seems that Levica has finally realised that wages should be higher, but it is more than obvious that they do not understand that this could be possible if wages were not so excessively burdened by taxes and contributions. Since we know who holds the power in our country, it is also clear who is responsible for this.
Recent Eurostat data reveal that Slovenia is one of the countries with the highest-taxed wages in Europe. Despite the rapid growth of wages last year, Slovenia is just above Romania in terms of net wages and purchasing power. This means that the material well-being of Slovenians is among the lowest in the European Union. High taxes and contributions deducted from gross wages are the main culprits for this.
While the Levica suddenly and miraculously notices that wages are too low, it clearly forgets that it is the very party, together with its coalition partners, that ensured the abolition of income tax reductions and the alignment of tax relief with inflation. The conglomerate also introduced an additional contribution for long-term care. Given the low productivity and the excessive burden on wages due to taxes and contributions, it is not surprising that we have such significant issues with wages.
At the beginning of this year, the Family Initiative calculated that, due to the harmful measures of the Robert Golob government, an average Slovenian family with two average wages and two children in kindergarten will lose €2,036 annually.
The OECD has been warning us for years that the tax burden on wages is too high and significantly worsens the competitiveness of the Slovenian economy. According to the OECD Taxing Wages report data from 2024, Slovenia ranked 7th among 38 OECD countries in 2023 for the burden on the average wage from income tax and social contributions. This specifically means that due to the higher tax burden on wages, net wages in Slovenia are “a good €200 lower than in other OECD countries”. “From an average wage in Slovenia, only a little over half (56.7%) of the total labour cost remains in the form of take-home pay, while this share is significantly higher at the OECD average level (65.2%),” highlighted the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Slovenia. Their chief economist, Bojan Ivanc, further explained: “In other words – if the wage burden in Slovenia were at the OECD average level, an individual in 2023 would have received €235 more in net wages on average than they actually did.”
Two months ago, the Chamber expressed the belief that wages would be more burdened this year, specifically due to the “transformation of voluntary health insurance into a mandatory health contribution, the absence of alignment of general income tax relief, and the thresholds of income tax brackets”. Conditions will worsen further in 2025, as from July 1st, 2025, the long-term care contribution will be in effect.
Since the Levica likes to emphasise the importance of maintaining the welfare state in defence of its actions, it is worth noting a revealing post on the social network X that opens one’s eyes. Vasja Bočko wrote that the “welfare state” in our country is “a mere scam, which funds: a bloated public sector, where approximately 50% of people do nothing and usually earn higher wages than the other half of the public sector, which actually has to do something, NGOs, corruption”. He further emphasised: “In one word: we are funding rent-seeking. My main issue is not that we have a “welfare state” and, consequently, high taxes and contributions and high public spending. My issue is that when we start comparing ourselves with Sweden, which is our model of a welfare state, we realise that, in comparison to the Swedes, we get nothing for this “welfare state”.” More on the matter can be read below:
The Levica’s pretence about the problem, that the situation is as it is, has evidently annoyed many, as seen in the comments:
- “Why did you immediately lower them in the first week after this government took office? How’s the pension increase going? In fact, during your term, they have decreased in real terms.”
- “Levica, do we know why wages are too low? Should I explain? Because the state does not create an economic environment for companies that generate extremely high added value. The current production, except for a few, does not provide sufficient funds to satisfy the state’s appetite. The culprit? YOU.”
- “Of course, wages are too low because taxes are too high!!! You raise taxes, then complain about low wages…”
- “So why do you consistently strive for lower wages and greater poverty? And on top of that, you are so shameless as to defame and accuse of greed and exploitation anyone who tries to create conditions for higher profits and better wages for themselves and their colleagues. Hypocrites without comparison!”