Jobbik pledges to introduce “landlords’ tax” if elected

Budapest (MTI) – Should it be elected to government, opposition Jobbik would introduce a so-called “landlords’ tax” to tax income increases above 300 million forints (EUR 972,000) per year, party leader Gábor Vona told a press briefing on Saturday.

The tax would be enforced retroactively going back to 2002 and rise progressively in proportion with the degree of income increase, Vona said.

The tax income would be used to improve Hungary’s competitiveness and to develop health care and the education system, Vona said.

He admitted the actual degree of income increase would be difficult to measure but said it was important to “make Viktor Orbán and his cronies a part of the equal tax treatment again”. The tax would focus on companies with “serious political backwind”, he said, adding that “honest entrepreneurs” would have nothing to worry about.

Speaking about the differences between Jobbik’s plan and the Socialists’ suggestion of a “luxury tax”, Vona said that the Socialists, as “heirs to the erstwhile Communist Party”, had no credibility in judging honourable and dishonest income increase. Jobbik’s plan is much more forceful, he said.

Jobbik would also maintain the taxes on banks and multinational companies, Vona said.

Source: MTI