PRAGUE, June 29 (Reuters) - Czech Finance Minister Miroslav Kalousek sees no room for more personal income tax cuts in the next two years if public spending is not reduced, he said on Sunday.
'I see no room for further tax cuts until 2010 because I see no room and political will to cut spending,' Kalousek told a debate at Prima TV.
The reformist government of Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek introduced a single tax rate of 15 percent on personal income this year, replacing a system of progressive taxation.
The rate was set to fall to 12.5 percent next year, but the cabinet decided on Friday to leave it at 15 percent, opting instead to cut the payroll social security tax by 1.5 percentage points to 11 percent as of 2009.
The social security tax reduction must still be approved by parliament.
The central European country aims to keep its overall fiscal deficit at 1.5 percent of gross domestic product for the next two years, before cutting it to 1.2 percent in 2011. The fiscal threshold required for euro adoption is 3 percent of GDP.
(Reporting by Martin Dokoupil; Editing by Ruth Pitchford) Keywords: CZECH FINMIN/TAXES tf.TFN-Europe_newsdesk@thomson.com hjp COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Financial News Limited 2008. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Thomson Financial News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Financial News.
'I see no room for further tax cuts until 2010 because I see no room and political will to cut spending,' Kalousek told a debate at Prima TV.
The reformist government of Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek introduced a single tax rate of 15 percent on personal income this year, replacing a system of progressive taxation.
The rate was set to fall to 12.5 percent next year, but the cabinet decided on Friday to leave it at 15 percent, opting instead to cut the payroll social security tax by 1.5 percentage points to 11 percent as of 2009.
The social security tax reduction must still be approved by parliament.
The central European country aims to keep its overall fiscal deficit at 1.5 percent of gross domestic product for the next two years, before cutting it to 1.2 percent in 2011. The fiscal threshold required for euro adoption is 3 percent of GDP.
(Reporting by Martin Dokoupil; Editing by Ruth Pitchford) Keywords: CZECH FINMIN/TAXES tf.TFN-Europe_newsdesk@thomson.com hjp COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Financial News Limited 2008. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Thomson Financial News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Financial News.