Businessmen "don't mind more taxes"

Successful Serbian businessmen told a B92 TV talk show on Sunday evening that they had nothing against the announced changes to Serbia's corporate tax. Some of the most successful Serbian businessmen, such as Miodrag Kostic and Zoran Drakulic, have nothing against the announced law changes that will additionally affect the richest. Businessmen "don't mind more taxes" The Ministry of Finance said that it was preparing changes to the Corporate Tax Law and the Property Tax Law, aimed at rich business people and those whose companies are registered in offshore countries, i.e. tax havens. The owner of East Point Holding, Zoran Drakulic, said during B92's Impression of the Week that he had nothing against the new way of taxing, but added that he feared that the situation would be worse than at present, and it would be bad for capital. “Rich people are not the problem in Serbia. There are other problems we have that are crucial, and those are incompetence, laziness and gray economy…When a minister says at an official meeting: ’Yes, it’s true that 70 percent of the Serbian economy is in the gray or black zone.’ Well that’s catastrophic,” Drakulic said. “So today there are 60 to 70 percent of people who don’t pay taxes on a part, or their entire income,” he warned. MK Commerce owner Miodrag Kostic also considers the new higher taxes not to be the problem, but adds that the tax base should be expanded, ad that "European tax practice, where everybody pays as much as they can, must be introduced". “In Serbia, few people pay taxes. And the point is that we don’t have seven million, we have a million of extremely endangered people, and you can’t expect that people with a monthly salary of RSD 15,000 to pull you out of the crisis. In the last couple of days I said that the rich should bear the grunt. You can’t take money from those who don’t have it,” Kostic says. “This has to be done with rich people, and I don’t mean three rich people, because they don’t have that kind of money. Also the ten richest people don’t have the money to pull us out of the crisis, but a million people in Serbia do, let everyone give. Because a million people with a thousand euros is a billion," Kostic calculated. "And if you took everything they had from three people you wouldn’t get EUR 300 mn." Belgrade weekly Vreme jouranlist Dimitrije Boarov took part in the same program and said he believed that the problem was not with the tax system but rather with the tax administration. “I believe that a political campaign against the rich is pointless. They also have losses, as far as I know. If you added all the private businesses, and removed all their debts, I’m not sure how much they would be in the black, or whether they would be in the black at all,” he warns. “I also believe that the number of people who present themselves as rich, but have large tax debts is underestimated. And the government also owes us. It receives a list of 100 biggest tax debtors in Serbia, but they never published it,” noted Boarov.

Businessmen "don't mind more taxes"

The Ministry of Finance said that it was preparing changes to the Corporate Tax Law and the Property Tax Law, aimed at rich business people and those whose companies are registered in offshore countries, i.e. tax havens.

The owner of East Point Holding, Zoran Drakulić, said during B92's Impression of the Week that he had nothing against the new way of taxing, but added that he feared that the situation would be worse than at present, and it would be bad for capital.

“Rich people are not the problem in Serbia. There are other problems we have that are crucial, and those are incompetence, laziness and gray economy…When a minister says at an official meeting: ’Yes, it’s true that 70 percent of the Serbian economy is in the gray or black zone.’ Well that’s catastrophic,” Drakulić said.

“So today there are 60 to 70 percent of people who don’t pay taxes on a part, or their entire income,” he warned.

MK Commerce owner Miodrag Kostić also considers the new higher taxes not to be the problem, but adds that the tax base should be expanded, ad that "European tax practice, where everybody pays as much as they can, must be introduced".

“In Serbia, few people pay taxes. And the point is that we don’t have seven million, we have a million of extremely endangered people, and you can’t expect that people with a monthly salary of RSD 15,000 to pull you out of the crisis. In the last couple of days I said that the rich should bear the grunt. You can’t take money from those who don’t have it,” Kostić says.

“This has to be done with rich people, and I don’t mean three rich people, because they don’t have that kind of money. Also the ten richest people don’t have the money to pull us out of the crisis, but a million people in Serbia do, let everyone give. Because a million people with a thousand euros is a billion," Kostić calculated. "And if you took everything they had from three people you wouldn’t get EUR 300 mn."

Belgrade weekly Vreme jouranlist Dimitrije Boarov took part in the same program and said he believed that the problem was not with the tax system but rather with the tax administration.

“I believe that a political campaign against the rich is pointless. They also have losses, as far as I know. If you added all the private businesses, and removed all their debts, I’m not sure how much they would be in the black, or whether they would be in the black at all,” he warns.

“I also believe that the number of people who present themselves as rich, but have large tax debts is underestimated. And the government also owes us. It receives a list of 100 biggest tax debtors in Serbia, but they never published it,” noted Boarov.