The Chamber of Labor (AK) and the SPÖ have plans for a ‘more social world’. They both want wealth and inheritance taxes, but also price ceilings. Experts analyze – and warn!
According to Babler, a millionaires’ tax would bring 100 million euros per week into the state treasury. AK President Renate Anderl thinks that if all companies paid their taxes correctly, the state would have up to 15 billion extra. An abstract quantity that cannot be calculated, says Denes Kucsera of Agenda Austria.
Vague calculations and high additional costs
There are also staccato calls for shorter working hours. Intervene in the pension system? Unthinkable in Austria. Despite billions of holes and warnings from experts.
Economist: With the sixth holiday week, GDP would shrink by three billion
The SPÖ also wants a sixth week of holiday. Employers would not be impressed. “With the sixth holiday week you would be saddled with another 4.8 billion, and GDP would shrink by 3 billion,” economist Kucsera calculates. These costs would have to be offset by higher prices or even workforce reductions.
Kucsera sees such measures and red requirements as potentially useful in times of increasing productivity, but in the current recession this is the wrong approach. Another requirement is that public holidays that fall on a Sunday should be placed on the next working day. “This measure would burden employers with an additional 1.5 billion euros.” And wealth or millionaires tax?
Property taxes remain a hot topic
Apart from the difficulty of finding a coalition partner for the drastic measures, Kucsera intervenes: “The supposed 5 billion per year in wealth taxes amounts to 1% of GDP. Only Switzerland and Luxembourg generate more than 1% of turnover here. However, the tax rate in both countries is generally significantly lower than that in Austria.” E. Vogl
Source: Krone
I’m Ben Stock, a journalist and author at Today Times Live. I specialize in economic news and have been working in the news industry for over five years. My experience spans from local journalism to international business reporting. In my career I’ve had the opportunity to interview some of the world’s leading economists and financial experts, giving me an insight into global trends that is unique among journalists.
