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NEWS | Wednesday, 12 December 2007

AN proposes tax rebate to husbands to keep their wives at home

Azzjoni Nazzjonali has proposed a system whereby spouses of “women who sacrifice their career by staying home raising children” would be entitled to a tax rebate equivalent to the national minimum wage, subtracted from their annual tax returns.
Outlining a series of proposed tax revisions yesterday, AN’s executive president Charles Saliba said: “Other political parties have protected women who decide to be gainfully employed, whereas none of them created incentives aimed at women who are obliged to stay at home.”
Asked to comment on whether this incentive has taken into consideration Malta’s low fertility rate, AN secretary-general Philip Beattie said: “You would agree with the fact that if this measure increases the number of family units with a non-working parent, Malta’s fertility rate will automatically increase.”
But the minister for the family and social solidarity Dolores Cristina said Malta had both the lowest percentage of working women in Europe, and one of the lowest scoring European countries in fertility rate.
“With fewer women working, there is no statistical evidence that a rise in fertility will follow. Has AN sought to find out whether what they are proposing is feasible? I’m afraid this sounds like a gratuitous proposal with no statistical background,” Cristina said.
Cristina said a study by labour relations expert Godfrey Baldacchino claims that apart from cultural reasons, women mainly stay at home because they do not have the financial need to seek work. “We must also provide for women who, irrespective of their financial situation, decide on pursuing a career. In championing the pensions reform, this government made provisions for parents under the age of 45 who decide to stop working for a period of time.”
Shadow minister for social policy Marie Louise Coleiro-Preca called the proposals short-sighted: “AN must appreciate that family issues are intricate and that they deserve an approach that is less short-sighted and more holistic. We cannot be effective on social issues by creating political gimmicks. What provisions are there for single parents in all this? AN may want to expand on what they are proposing.”
Alternattiva Demokratika finance spokesperson Edward Fenech was more categorical, calling AN’s proposal “complete nonsense”.
“If anyone stands to gain from such a measure it would be family units who do not have the financial requirement to have both parents working – in other words, the rich.
“For an average family, how will a discount of Lm250 on taxes act as an incentive to parents from giving up on an annual salary? What AD is proposing is to increase maternal leave from the current 12 weeks to 26 weeks, with a state subsidy of Lm70 per week from the thirteenth week onwards. We have taken into consideration the fact that Malta has the lowest maternity leave allowance in Western Europe.”
Azzjoni Nazzjonali is also proposing other amendments to Malta’s taxation system, among them a blanket rate family tax of 18% to replace the “confusion in tax return computation”. It also proposed an increase in income tax thresholds for the first Lm5,000 in single income to be tax-free instead of the current Lm3,498; and for married couples, the first Lm6,000 would be tax free instead of the current Lm5,000.
AN also proposed a gradual decrease to 18% on corporate tax, a levelling of VAT on restaurant food from the “unfair” 18% levied on independent restaurants to the 5% imposed on hotel restaurants.
The party also proposed a 20% tax rebate on maintenance work for property owners who register income from rentals. For income gained from property built after 1959, a flat rate of 18% tax has been suggested, whereas for that of property built before, a flat rate of 5% tax is being proposed.

ddarmanin@mediatoday.com.mt


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