The opposition Fidesz party said in response to Prime Minister Péter Magyar’s announcement regarding tax changes on Tuesday that the party does not support tax increases in any form.
In a statement, Fidesz said the Tisza government wanted to take money from the people because it had “squandered Hungary’s wealth through six months of inaction”. “Hungary does not need tax hikes, but tax cuts,” Fidesz said, adding that every tax increase risked job losses, while every tax cut created new jobs.
“Fidesz does not support any tax increases, because we must protect, not jeopardise, the jobs of the Hungarian people,” the statement added.
Magyar announced on Facebook earlier on Tuesday that the government had decided on the details of the wealth tax, the extension of the itemised tax for small businesses (KATA) and on scrapping tax preferences for professional footballers and other athletes.
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Speaking at a press conference on Tuesday afternoon about the government’s measures, Fidesz MP Andre Paloc said that the tax increases and new taxes meant that Hungarian families would have less pay to take home, and jobs would become insecure or disappear altogether.
He also said that while the Tisza government talked about the growth in industrial figures, it failed to mention that this was merely the result of investments announced by the previous Orbán governments bringing results.
Prime Minister Peter Magyar said in response on Facebook that “it didn’t take long for the members of the ousted government to side with the billionaire oligarchs.” He added that the people in question “would undermine the renewed extension of the KATA scheme — which they themselves ruined — and the taxation of footballers earning tens of millions”.
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