Current tax level does not provide for all needs - finance minister

RIGA - The current tax level does not provide for all the state needs, said Finance Minister Arvils Aseradens (New Unity) in an interview with Ir magazine.

According to the minister, Latvia is a development country and has entered a good development phase and in similar countries the tax burden is not 29 percent or 30 percent, but 34 percent, as in Estonia, for example. "In relation to tax revision, I will be glad if I manage to increase the taxes by the end of the period," the politician said.

Aseradens reminded that the coalition parties have agreed to revise taxes once in four years, and now parties have got down to this task. "We should decide what tax level is necessary to ensure the state functions," the minister said. "Defense means significant changes - this is the first year of war, the government has reacted, budget priorities include not only the army and troops, but also technologies. Internal security - crisis centers, equipment, firefighting vehicles, supplies in the case of crisis. There are sectors with good funding - culture, education. At the same time, some sectors lack funding - welfare, health care. Therefore we should understand how much we need in taxes. We will audit them - see which ones are disfunctional, we will assess proposals of political and social partners, discuss taxation scenario."

The politician refused to tell what tax changes he would like to see, just said that the state needs much more than we think.