Jobbik calls on govt to withdraw planned tax on solar panels

Budapest, January 12 (MTI) – The radical nationalist Jobbik party on Monday called on the government to withdraw solar panels from an environmental product fee, saying that the tax would be “yet another nail in the coffin” of Hungary’s economy and energy independence.

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Lajos Kepli, a lawmaker of the opposition party, said in a statement that the government had made needless “luxury investments” and had pursued a reckless economic policy, and such taxes were desperate measures to plug gaps in the budget.

The environmental product tax, which the Jobbik MP called a “tax on sunlight”, would, he said, make solar panels several thousand forints more expensive. He also called for the lowest (5 percent) tax rate to apply to the panels.

At the weekend, opposition parties LMP, Together and PM protested against the government’s plan. Green LMP called it “unacceptable”. A spokesman of the Together (Egyutt) party called on President Janos Ader to intervene. Dialogue for Hungary (PM) said the plan was among the “the darkest” of the Orban government.