Agreement between the Government and the banks was discussed at Question Time
At Question Time of the Riigikogu (Parliament of Estonia), Prime Minister Kaja Kallas said in reply to the question of Urmas Reinsalu about the political situation that the Government and the banks had reached an agreement on excessive profits of banks that would not damage the Estonian economy.
The Prime Minister explained that it was too late for the taxation of the excessive profits of banks predicted for 2024 and 2025, because it had been agreed in the Taxation Act that Acts concerning new taxes had to be adopted six months before their enforcement, and thus there would have been no time for doing it by 2024. “In this situation, we sat down with the banks to find a way how to get a larger share of these profits into the state budget, and the amount they promised in addition to what has already been predicted as advance income tax payment or income tax will come from the banks,” Kallas said, referring to the agreement reached yesterday with bank managers, according to which bank owners would take out profits in the coming years and pay taxes on it.
“I am just reminding you that banks are the only business sector that has an income tax in the classical sense, others do not pay income tax on reinvested profit,” Kallas noted, and specified that, in 2024, that amount would be 80 million additional euros. “What we predicted, was maybe 136 million, plus 80 million and in 2025, plus 45 million in addition to 193 million,” she explained. Kallas also said that banks boost the economy by giving loans, providing access to capital and paying interests on deposits, and that agreement would not damage the situation of Estonian economy.
The Prime Minister also replied to the question of Martin Helme on finances and economy, the question of Tanel Kiik on hindering the forming of a committee of investigation, question of Helle-Moonika Helme on the situation of the country, question of Riina Solman on the state budget and the question of Rene Kokk on moral standards.
Minister of Defence Hanno Pevkur and Minister of the Interior Lauri Läänemets also participated in Question Time. The Minister of Defence replied to the question of Andres Metsoja on Parseltongue. The Minister of the Interior replied to the question of Vadim Belobrovtsev on the next year’s budget and the question of Lauri Laats on taxes.
The verbatim record of Question Time (in Estonian)
Video recordings of the sittings of the Riigikogu can be viewed at https://www.youtube.com/riigikogu.
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Riigikogu Press Service
Maris Meiessaar
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