KPMG: Senate rejects tax package

The Senate has rejected the government’s tax bill. In order for it to come into effect, it has to be approved again by the Chamber of Deputies and signed by the President. To our knowledge, it is to be discussed at the session starting from 18 December. If approved, it may still be published in the Collection of Laws before 31 December, 2012.

The measures included in the bill are as follows:

• Limits on lump sum expense deductions for personal income tax.
• An increase in withholding tax on passive income from 15% to 35% (dividends, interest, licence fees) vis-à-vis tax havens.
• Restrictions on the “green diesel” preferential tax treatment in 2013, and its outright cancellation in 2014.
• An increase in real estate transfer tax from 3% to 4%.
• A 7% “solidarity increase” in personal income tax on income in excess of 48-times the average wage in 2013–2015.
• Abolition of the basic personal income tax allowance for pensioners in 2013–2015.
• Increases in each VAT rate by one percentage point, to 21% and 15%, in 2013–2015.
• Cancellation of the cap on public health insurance premiums in 2013–2015.