Azzjoni Nazzjonali yesterday called for a gradual reduction of tax on business, saying that any tax investigations should not go back more than two years.
Party spokesman Charles Attard said VAT on restaurant services had to be reduced to improve competitiveness, and business start-ups should have venture capital available to them.
Once again, Attard said AN wanted the establishment of a grand coalition with ministers coming from all the different parties represented in parliament. It also wanted technocrats appointed to cover areas where none of the elected MPs had expertise, he said
The party launched their manifesto on Saturday in which it said it wanted to introduce flat-rate taxation: “When people are allowed initiative they will always work harder. But who wants to work hard when he sees his money bankrolling the spending sprees of government which very often had questionable motives? This is why Azzjoni Nazzjonali was in favour of the lowest possible flat rate of tax, an experiment that had yielded wonderful results wherever it had been applied,” party leader Josie Muscat said.
Muscat stressed AN was in favour of public-private partnerships or the system of Build-Operate-Transfer, “since private enterprise could always be counted on to deliver a better service. More so if, instead of competing with it, government played the part of the honest broker, ensured a level playing field and strictly refereed any process.”
Muscat also said safeguarding the traditional Maltese family and its values were crucial to the manifesto. “What’s the point in parties saying they want to support the family, when they support measures that directly or indirectly weaken the family?” Muscat asked, saying nothing was done to teach people to take responsibility for their actions with reference to single mothers and drug addicts. “The message that was being indirectly sent out was that irresponsible actions were tolerated and supported by the honest, hard-working decent citizen.”