How the budget can be restructured has been on the agenda of the blue-black negotiators for days. The head of the Economic Research Institute (Wifo), Gabriel Felbermayr, sees room for tax increases and mentions income tax for high incomes, tobacco and real estate taxes as possibilities.
This year will be difficult, that much is certain for Felbermayr. Nevertheless, the economist calls on politicians to “remove the uncertainty.”
“The situation is not hopeless”
The situation is not hopeless. If we manage to restore confidence, we will ‘hopefully have more growth again’, and with more growth, fiscal consolidation will be much less difficult.
Measures are needed on the revenue side
But measures on the income side will be necessary, Felbermayr emphasizes. He mentions expanding tobacco taxes and reforming property taxes. He also envisions the abolition of the climate bonus and a temporary solidarity allowance for high earners. In concrete terms, two percentage points more could be introduced for the top earners over three years. For Felbermayr, the existence or not of an EU deficit procedure is “of secondary importance”. “What is needed is that we put a credible plan on the table.”
Successful consolidations always take place on both the expenditure and income sides, Felbermayr said in the ORF press hour on Sunday. Felbermayr also emphasized that the future government will have to initiate a pension reform.
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.
