Progressive tax

BSP has given up on its idea of abolishing the flat tax. However, a "rich people tax" has to be introduced. A 20% tax will have to be paid by people with monthly income of above BGN 10,000 from wages and rent, or people with an annual income of over BGN 120,000.

The treasury will lose over BGN 2.7 B if the minimum pension of BGN 300, insisted upon by the Patriotic Front, and the progressive income tax, demanded by BSP, are approved, stated Finance Minister Vladislav Goranov to journalists at the Council of Ministers.

The budget will lose BGN 1.5 B if a minimum pension of BGN 300 is introduced, stated Goranov, cited by BTA.

France's influential economist Thomas Piketty, author of the bestseller "Capital in the 21st Century", on Thursday refused to accept the country's highest award, the Legion d'honneur, to criticise the Socialist government in power.
      

Bulgaria will keep its flat tax rate of 10%, Parliament has decided, rejecting motions to re-introduce progressive taxation.

Croatia's centre-left government has announced income tax cuts for 2015, increasing the untaxed threshold in salaries and lifting the limit at which the highest income tax rates of 40 per cent start.

Untaxed incomes rates will rise from 293 euro to 346 euro a month, bringing some relief to all wage earners.