Final Word from Wednesday, June 12, 2002
Vladimír Špidla told F1 radio last week that ČSSD is thinking about revamping the tax system. The overall level of taxation would remain the same, he said, but the system would be changed to increase the transparency and achieve certain goals. For example, the social-security tax might be lowered to give the job market a boost. At the same time, he mentioned the possibility of a new, higher tax bracket for those who earn more than Kč 1m per year. He stressed that this would not necessarily mean a rise in their total tax burden. How much Špidla fiddled with taxes would depend on his coalition partner or partners. Both ODS and US-DEU insist that they would expect a tax cut. KDU-ČSL is less categoric. Chairman Cyril Svoboda told MF Dnes that for his party, the compromise with ČSSD might be that taxes simply don't go any higher.