Democrats suggest the rich should pay higher taxes

The Democratic Party today submitted to the Parliament's economy commission a set of amendments to the 2012 Budget & Fiscal Policy seeking to relieve the tax burden on businesses and individuals with modest incomes, Info-Prim Neo reports. “The purpose of the Fiscal Policy should be to support the economy, instead of increasing taxes for entrepreneurs and people with modest incomes”, Democrat MP Andrian Candu told a press briefing. Considering that the 2012 Budget & Fiscal Policy was presented with a significant delay, Candu expressed his hope that the amendments proposed by the parliamentary factions would be examined promptly so that they could be adopted until the end of the year. Candu stressed the Democrats would show a constructive attitude, dismissing as speculations the statements that the Democrats conditioned their endorsement of the Budget Law on the election of the president. “These are two parallel processes. There's no time to waste. The Democratic Party will insist that these proposals be voted as soon as possible, after a careful examination, in order to remove pressure on the economy and the citizens”. Among the key amendments proposed by the Democrats: increase personal exemptions from 675 lei to 1,500 lei in order to avoid the imposition of the subsistence minimum; introduce a 25% tax on people who earn 500,000 lei or more a year; exempt young employees from income tax during the first three years of their careers; and introduce a system of deductions on socially-important individual expenses, like public transportation fares or school fees.