Despite protests from companies organisation Klub 500 and others, and a presidential veto, the government stubbornly pushed through its revised Income Tax Act today in a specially convened parliamentary session.
Now many companies will have an 80% tax slapped on income from sales of emission allowances in 2011 and 2012, as the current government feels that the former government was overly generous in handing out EUR 660 million in emission allowances for the 2008-2012 period.
Finance minister Ivan Miklos said the government regarded these excess allowances as disadvantageous for the state, which is why they decided to tax them and so bring in an additional EUR 150 million for the state budget from some 133 companies that will be affected by the provision.
Miklos criticised the former government for acting in favour of private companies and against the public interest, which is why he does not rule out the possibility of filing a criminal complaint if there is due suspicion.
Companies affected by the tax are furious because if they saved on emissions through investments into ecological technologies, then they rightfully have surpluses, which they can then sell. One problem is that the saved emissions will be taxed at 80% whether they are sold or not. This theoretically means that some companies could pay more in taxes than they actually made in revenue from the emissions.