Tomilinas: as long as there is no universal declaration of income, we will not have real progressive taxes in Lithuania

According to Tomas Tomilin, a member of the “Vardan Lietuvos” Democratic faction, such a move towards more progressive taxes is encouraging, especially at a time when the public sector is underfunded. tax system do not include the drastic changes that were expected of this government.

“The main thing is that the government take the path of progressiveness, and that is generally a pleasure. I have always been a constant supporter of progressive taxes. And the 32 percent tariff was created by the efforts of me and Stasios Jakeliūnas in the last term. I really couldn’t object to it,” T. Tomilinas told Elta.

“For now, I see this kind of patching up and adjustment of taxation, a further step towards progressivity. It is in any case a welcome thing. Our public sector creaks and fidgets, and it is systematically underfunded. We know that we have to move towards more progressiveness. But I miss the determination shown by the government at the start of its mandate”, he commented.

The parliamentarian said that with the GPM changes, he also expected the unification of income tax rates, regardless of the type of activity. However, according to him, he did not find such an idea in the orientations of the tax reform.

“I think this government has really created very high expectations that they are finally going to settle this arbitration and that there will no longer be an artificial division by type of income, but only by quantity. I have reservations about this aspect, because until I see a universal or universal declaration of income and until we have a rate for all types of income, these will not be real progressive taxes”, he explained .

Finally, T. Tomilinas mentioned that he hopes that the issue of tax reform will put an end to the cycle of scandals in the Seimas.

“I support the directions and I really want us in the Seimas to be able to give the green light to a normal conversation on taxes. We are drowned in all kinds of scandals, all kinds of interpretations of relations, and we forget expectations fundamentals that keep us sitting there. And that’s the arrangement of the public finance sector,” he said.

ELTA recalls that at the beginning of March the government approved the work program for the next spring session of the Seimas, which includes the revision of the tax system.

In May, the Seimas is expected to consider a package of bills to revise the tax system. It will revise open-ended benefits and other special tax conditions established in tax laws, and also aims to contribute to increasing the financial independence of municipalities, reducing inequalities, promoting advanced investments and ensuring efficiency and the predictability of the tax system.

Finance Minister Gintarė Skaistė affirmed that tax reform proposals have already been presented in the coalition partner factions and after the local elections, discussions on its form should be completed. According to her, the tax reform should certainly appear in the Seimas during the first half of the spring session of the parliament.

Last November, representatives of the World Bank visited Lithuania and highlighted the shortcomings of the country’s tax system: the Lithuanian value-added tax gap, which is more than double the EU average European, and income inequality.

The institution proposes taxing all sources of income equally, regardless of the type of income received, as well as taxing income at a progressive rate, thereby reducing the tax burden on those who earn less.

The World Bank has also calculated that there are 72 different tax regimes in Lithuania.