Lietuva in brief - 2012-11-15

The Seimas approved of the amendments submitted by President Dalia Grybauskaite and tightened the criminal proceedings for bribing voters and other serious violations of the Election Law, reports ELTA. On Nov. 8 the members of Parliament approved of the amendments to the Penal Code, the Criminal Intelligence and the Central Election Commission Law. The approved amendments stipulate that a person who interferes with the election or referendum, forges an election or referendum ballot, or also who calculates the results incorrectly will be punished either by public work, restriction of liberty, arrest or by imprisonment of up to four years. The amendments to the Penal Code will be effective as of Jan. 1, 2013.

If the shadow economy was eliminated in Lithuania, the country could collect an additional 7.5 billion litas (2.1 billion euros) from residents’ taxes, an analysis of taxes paid by residents, conducted by Swedbank’s Personal Finances Institute, has suggested, reports ELTA. According to the head of the Personal Finances Institute, Odeta Bloziene, with elimination of the shadow economy, the amount collected only from taxes on consumption would be enough to cover the revenues from the personal income tax (PIT) collected from residents. “And if we also included social security payments, profit tax paid by employers on behalf of their employees and other taxes, the sum of additional tax revenues would grow even more,” she said. According to the data of the Lithuanian Free Market Institute, the shadow economy in 2011 accounted for 27 percent of GDP.