The Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Slovenia emphasises that net wages in Slovenia should be raised in order to retain high-quality staff. The Chamber also estimates that while the state treasury would be deprived of some of its revenues in this period, on the other hand, through higher consumption of the population and higher GDP growth, inflows into the state treasury would later be higher than they currently are. “The analysts of the Chamber of Commerce have calculated that in the period between 2022 and 2025, economic growth due to personal income tax reform would increase by an average of 0.5 to 0.75 percentage points,” explained the President of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Tibor Šimonka.
Before the vote in the National Assembly in December, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Manager Association, Slovenian Business Club and AmCham Slovenia all called on the MPs to vote in favour of the proposed amendments to the Personal Income Tax Act, which they see as a step towards a more favourable business environment. “We called on the deputies in the National Assembly to support the proposed amendments to the Personal Income Tax Act in the vote on the changes,” they wrote.
However, the National Assembly has not yet voted on the adoption of an amendment to the Personal Income Tax Act, with which the government is proposing quite a few reliefs on both taxation of wages as well as taxation of capital. Just before the vote, SDS MP Danijel Krivec proposed that the decision making be postponed to one of the forthcoming sessions, and the majority of those present agreed. In the Left party (Levica), they described the law as one of the most harmful laws proposed by the current government, and a request was made for a consultative referendum, which will inevitably delay the implementation of the said act.
“The Chamber of Commerce and Industry has been saying for many years now that the net salaries of employees must be increased if we want to retain high-quality staff in Slovenia, which also contributes significantly to an increase in added value, and means we could remain comparable to other Central European countries, which have already implemented such changes,” the President of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Tibor Šimonka, said regarding the proposed amendment to the Personal Income Tax Act.
“Nevertheless, the proposal for the Personal Income Tax reform is an important structural reform that envisages that net wages will gradually increase over the next few years,” Šimonka added. The Chamber of Commerce and Industry also estimates that while the state treasury would be deprived of some of its revenues in this period, on the other hand, through higher consumption of the population and higher GDP growth, inflows into the state treasury would later be higher than they currently are.
The Left party warns of an alleged hole in the state budget if the law were to pass. In order to see if the claims are true, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry prepared a recalculation, where they found that the personal income tax reform would have a favourable effect on GDP, which would be reflected in higher incomes in the state treasury. “The analysts of the Chamber of Commerce have calculated that in the period between 2022 and 2025, economic growth due to personal income tax reform would increase by an average of 0.5 to 0.75 percentage points,” Šimonka made it clear.
You can calculate for yourself how much higher your salary would be after the reform
As the Left party submitted a request for a consultative referendum, the announced changes that could have happened in 2022 might already be lost; however, Prime Minister Janez Janša has already announced that the amendments to the Personal Income Tax Act will nevertheless be adopted, despite the demands from the Left party. At this link, you can calculate for yourself how much higher your net salary would be if the amendments to the Personal Income Tax Act were adopted.
Sara Rančigaj
