The National Assembly decided unanimously on Thursday at first reading that changes to the tax procedures act, as part of which the government wants to introduce a super tax as a means of fighting undeclared income, are fit for further debate in parliament.
Under the changes a 70% tax rate would be applied to income that has not been declared. The Tax Administration (DURS) will also get new powers in auditing persons who spend much more than they officially earn.
The draft changes will now be discussed by the parliamentary Finance Committee, while they are expected to be passed in the National Assembly before the end of the year.
The legislation was proposed by the government at the initiative of DURS, which has noted an increase in cases of individuals who spend well beyond what their declared income allows in recent times.
To allow for a more effective fight on undeclared income the changes will extend the period for which DURS can audit an individual from five to ten years.
Finance Ministry State Secretary Mateja Vraničar told MPs on Tuesday during a general debate that DURS has detected a rise in the number of cases when individuals possess finances which significantly exceed their declared income.
The changes were welcomed by all deputy groups, with some MPs proposing that the period for which DURS can audit an individual is extended even further than to ten years.
"There is a number of individuals in Slovenia who have obviously accumulated assets in some strange way," Franc Bogovič of the opposition People's Party (SLS) said.
Matej Tonin of the opposition New Slovenia added that there are people who "take their children to the kindergarten in a EUR 150,000 car while paying nothing for the kindergarten".
Source: SloveniaTimes
