By: (Nova24tv.si)
With all the price increases, crises in all areas, and higher taxes, this time the government has found another way to take from its citizens, while the finances of non-governmental organisations remain “untouched”. Instead of their full wallets, the government will take from your pocket this time, under the name “solidarity contribution”, which will average around 68 euros per employed person.
The solidarity contribution, introduced as one of the sources of funds for flood relief by the Golob government’s emergency law that came into effect on Saturday, is estimated to be around 68 euros per employed person according to calculations by the Ministry of Finance. The ministry expects that most contributors will choose to contribute to the reconstruction fund by working on Saturday, reported STA.
The Law on Intervention Measures for the Elimination of Flood and Landslide Consequences from August 2023, passed by the National Assembly last Thursday, introduces a mandatory solidarity contribution for individuals and legal entities as one of the sources to finance the damage caused. Employees will pay it at a rate of 0.3% of their calculated income tax and some other income, while companies will contribute 0.8% of the basis for calculating corporate income tax. This contribution will be in effect for two years and will be first assessed in 2024 and then in 2025, according to the law. People with the lowest incomes are exempt from paying the solidarity contribution, and the threshold for assessment is set at 35% of the average salary in Slovenia.
The “voluntary” solidarity Saturday is actually “mandatory”
From the remaining physical persons and physical persons who carry out activities and are part of the annual calculation of income tax, around 81 million euros of solidarity contributions per year are expected to be collected, as calculated by the Ministry of Finance. The calculation is based on the assumption that none of the taxpayers would decide to work on a solidarity Saturday. This calculation is slightly higher than when the proposal for the law was submitted to the National Assembly, as the basis for paying the mandatory solidarity contribution has expanded slightly during the discussions. Members of Parliament included in the tax base also income that is not part of the annual calculation of income tax, such as capital gains and income from property rental.
Finance Minister Klemen Boštjančič explained the expansion during the Thursday session of the National Assembly by saying that those who have more should pay more, referring to the part of the population with high incomes who actually earn or have earned their money, as opposed to non-governmental organisations. The minister omitted these organisations, although it is a fact that millions of euros have flowed to them.
Recall that the “Voice of the People” initiative, currently composed of 109 different organisations, has received approximately 140 million euros so far. Just during the term of Prime Minister Robert Golob’s government, around 40 million euros have been transferred to their transaction accounts. Then, three more tenders were published with a total value of just under 11 million euros. To this, of course, should be added an additional 6.25 million euros, which we have written about here – in Slovene. Is there anything more to add to this?