Taxation should be more transparent – Edward Scicluna
Labour MEP candidate Edward Scicluna said the introduction of new taxation should be carried out transparently.
Referring to Malta’s convergence report which the government presented to the European Commission in December 2008, Scicluna said the government had promised it would increase taxation by just a fraction of a percentage of the GDP in 2009.
Scicluna claimed the government was looking at ways of increasing taxation. He said that unlike other EU member states, Malta does not automatically increase the ceiling of each income tax bracket when it hands out an increase in the cost of living allowance at every budget.
“This means that with every increase given to workers, they risk exceeding the ceiling and start paying more tax than the year before,” Scicluna said.
The economist said it was for this reason that such a “hidden tax” was not permissible in other countries, which had “index-linked” systems where income tax ceilings are adjusted automatically ever year,
Scicluna said that people seem to believe government is being charitable by adjusting the tax brackets, usually prior to the elections.
“In fact, what would have happened is that government would only be giving back some of the tax it had stealthily collected in the previous years,” Scicluna said.
The MEP candidate added that the most recent increase in tax was through the increase in energy tariffs after the removal of the government subsidies. He said these included the increase in the gas tariff on 1 April, the increase in electricity and water bills from the 1 October onwards, and the impending tax on drainage.
“While consumer-workers are asked to pay an increase of 37% on the price of gas for the reduction of the subsidy, they have not been compensated for the fact that now they do not need to contribute from their taxes towards the subsidy that will be eventually removed. Instead of benefiting taxpayers, the government will be collecting more taxes and increase the tax burden of the country,” Scicluna said.
Any comments?
If you wish your comments to be published in our Letters pages please click button below. Please write a contact number and a postal address where you may be contacted.
Download front page in pdf file format
All the interviews from Reporter on MaltaToday's YouTube channel.
