“I do not support the tax reform as it is presented in the Seimas (…). I think we need to stop. We have just raised corporate tax on defense, we have adopted green taxes by raising excise duty, taxing fuel and everything, let’s stop it. Lithuania lives in the conditions of permanent tax reform. Now and before the elections, we hear that Vilija Blinkevičiūtė also talks about tax reform, conservatives too, we say – let’s stop”, said A. Armonaitė in the program “ELTA Kampas”.
“We cannot live in conditions of constant tax changes, especially when our neighbors, the Estonians, are in recession, the Latvians are also stagnant, we have a war, and Lithuania is growing. As the Estonian economist said, Lithuania is a country from another planet. Let’s not stop, why ruin it all now, shuffle the cards? Let’s grow the economy, jobs (…). In this way, we will have more finances in the budget and a higher gross domestic product (GDP),” she explained.
One of the priorities indicated in the election program of the Freedom Party is the allocation of 4% to defense financing. GDP. A. Armonaitė assures that in order to achieve this goal, unused funds and allocations can be directed not to deficit reduction, but to national defense. She emphasized that Russia is currently a bigger threat than the budget deficit.
“(For increasing defense funding – ELTA) there are sources – for example, unused funds, appropriations could be directed not to deficit reduction, which is being done now, but to defense. in 2023 Lithuanian state institutions did not use 158 million. euros, they returned to the state budget in 2022. it was a similar amount, maybe around 120 million. euros”, said the chairman of the Freedom Party.
“Significant sums are unused, return to the budget, and are directed to reducing the deficit. But if the real threat is Russia and not the deficit, then let’s prevent the real threat. It seems to me that Russia is a bigger threat than the budget deficit. Maybe the Ministry of Finance plans the budget more conservatively, that’s their thing, but I look politically at where the priority is. If the priority is defense, and I think we all agree with that, then we look here. This is where all our resources should be directed,” she emphasized.
At that time, speaking about the priorities of the political force led by her in the formation of the 2025 state budget, the politician singled out the incentives needed to attract investments, the financing of education and science, and defense.
“To ensure continuity, (…) for the growth agenda to be implemented, attracting investors necessarily requires incentives. (…) It is clear that the implementation of the education agreement is very important, not only the increase of teachers’ salaries, but also the funding of science has always been a priority of the Freedom Party”, said the Minister of Economy and Innovation.
“And it is clear that defense is the most important priority at the moment,” she assured.
ELTA reminds that last year, after a long wait, the tax reform was presented by the Ministry of Finance and submitted to the Seimas. The package consisted of amendments to seven draft laws, three of which are to be submitted by the Ministry of Social Security and Labor (SADM). Higher taxes were foreseen for some of the self-employed, more persons would have to pay real estate tax after the adoption of the reform, the procedure for applying some benefits would change, a minimum unemployment benefit would be introduced, but the reform stalled.
Although the entire package was approved in June after its presentation, the coalition council meeting at the end of August agreed to continue discussing the tax reform, which caused disagreements between the ruling parties, in separate stages.
In October, there was a return to the real estate (NT) tax, it was approved at the consideration stage, with the support of several social democrats, but the “liberal” coalition partners did not express their support for the project.
Social Democrat leader Vilija Blinkevičiūtė promises to implement tax reform and reorganize the system during the next Seimas term. According to her, taxes must be comprehensible to everyone, fair and must be collected sufficiently to provide public services.
V. Blinkevičiūtė assures that she wants the tax reform to be implemented in the first year of the next Seimas term. According to her, the social democrats, having received the trust of the voters, would soon start work on this issue.
2024-09-07 13:12:28