SaS Strongly against Real Estate Tax Hike Proposed by ZMOS

Bratislava, March 6 (TASR) - The opposition Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) party strongly opposes higher real-estate taxes, as requested for a second round of consolidation by the Slovak Towns and Villages Association (ZMOS), MPs Branislav Groehling and Marian Viskupic (both SaS) declared at a press briefing held in front of the Finance Ministry on Thursday. According to SaS, the state should save money by slashing its own expenditures instead. "We're saying that we're opposed to tax hikes. We must support the economy, economic growth, so that people can enjoy more money in their wallets and live contented lives not regulated by the government. The state should only create an environment to make that happen," said SaS chair Groehling. In Viskupic's view, it's sad that tax hikes are being proposed by regional politicians now. "For us in SaS, tax hikes are a red line. We're unequivocally against the proposal presented by ZMOS to increase real estate taxes," underlined SaS vice-chair Viskupic. He detailed that ZMOS proposes increasing real estate tax automatically every year. "They want to tax second and third pieces of real estate with double and triple rates, respectively. In addition, ZMOS proposes taxing individual floors of real estate as well as real estate for commercial uses. All of these motions will do nothing but increase the tax-levy burden on individuals and businesses," warned Viskupic. mf/df