No major changes in taxation in 2014 “good news”, says former FinMin

Laszlo, who was finance minister during the government of Peter Medgyessy between 2002 and 2004, said some important issues need to be addressed in the long term, however, and the financing of education, health care and pensions are among them.

He said economic growth of around 0.5 percent is not “exactly earth-shattering”.

Whatever happens in the international economy, the instinct for survival in a period without shocks could in itself generate growth, he added.

Commenting on recent allegations by a former tax office staffer about VAT fraud in the range of one trillion forints (EUR 3.3bn), he said the black economy is actually much larger than the average person thinks it is “when you consider that it natural for an electrician, say, to hardly ever give a receipt for his work.” If everyone were to issue a receipt for every transaction, that would actually total more than a trillion forints, he said.

Photo: kormanytortenet.zskf.hu

Source: http://hungarymatters.hu/