The opposition has its facts wrong: the tax burden is on its way down

The Flemish socialists have got their facts dead wrong when they claim that the tax burden for the average citizen has increased by almost eight percent since the current government took over the reins in 2014. “The opposite is true,” the N-VA says. “Thanks to its measures both in personal income tax and in withholding tax on professional income, the Michel Government has in fact reduced the burden, by a further 1.4% by the end of this year. And in coming years this will primarily be felt by those in the lowest income bracket.” So it’s definitely down this beaten path that the government will continue down in future. “We are implementing tax reform consistently,” Minister of Finance Johan Van Overtveldt says with assurance.

“To measure the tax burden, we use objective figures, not those from a research department of an opposition party,” says Johan Van Overtveldt regarding the erroneous claim by the sp.a. For example, just recently figures were made available by the OECD which showed that out of all 35 OECD countries, the ones where the tax burden experienced the sharpest decline last year were Belgium and Austria. The European Commission and the National Bank of Belgium figures show the same results.

Creative arithmetic

“The sp.a is doing a simple addition in which growth, the effects of more people being employed, Inflation The increase in the general price level. The original meaning (literally “to blow up”) is monetary inflation, which means that the amount of money increases. Today, inflation primarily refers to price inflation. This means an implicit monetary depreciation. This causes the purchasing power to drop. inflation and tax measures are thrown into one big pot,” the N-VA counters. “For example, if there are 50,000 more people employed this year, it is pretty logical that as a whole we will be paying a larger amount of tax. And the fact that people are able to spend more means that VAT income will go up as well.”

A just social policy

“Under the previous government, the general tax burden increased to a historic high,” Johan Van Overtveldt points out. “Our recovery policy has given companies and citizens breathing space again by reducing the competitive handicap and lowering taxes. The result is more purchasing power and tens of thousands of new jobs.”

The Tax shift There is a tax shift when a new tax is implemented or an existing tax is increased in order to reduce or get rid of another tax. The N-VA is a proponent of a shift of the burden on labour to that on consumption or environmental pollution, for example, but not of a tax that increases the total burden of taxation. tax shift of this government is the largest tax reform in 50 years. Thanks to that tax shift, working people will once again see a hefty increase in the net wage on their payslip in both 2018 and 2019. “Moreover, the tax shift creates a fairer situation because the lowest incomes enjoy the greatest benefits, and because the wealthiest are contributing to financing the shift more than ever. That is a socially just policy,” the Minister concludes.