ZAGREB, August 4, 2018 – The NHS trade union federation said on Friday that the proposed changes to income tax and contributions will not dissuade young people from emigrating nor will they financially help the majority of citizens, who are in fact the most in need of aid.
NHS considers that the only significant solution would be to increase gross wages, including the minimum wage, and employment with secure open-ended contracts.
The union welcomed the government’s intention to reduce VAT on certain products (fresh meant, fruit, vegetables and fish) but said that changes to income tax and scrapping the contribution for employment measures and employment safety were bad.
NHS hopes that retailers will be reasonable and will use this VAT cut to reduce end prices.
With regard to the government’s proposal to raise the threshold for the higher tax bracket so that wages of highly skilled workers such as doctors, IT experts and pharmacists could increase, NHS considers that this won’t dissuade highly qualified personnel from emigrating as these vocations do not earn the net wages that would be affected.
The union criticised the government because it did not involve unions in preparing the tax reform and because the public debate of the reform was being launched during the peak holiday season. The union also commented on the fact that the government on Thursday adopted its Economic and Fiscal Policy Guidelines for 2019-2021 as though the tax reform has already been approved and adopted, “which just goes to show that the public debate is just a cover-up because once the government has decided amongst themselves, we are all just extras,” NHS concluded.
