Prime Minister Alexander De Croo (Open Vld) will convene the core cabinet at 7 p.m. about the tax reform, despite a veto from the French-speaking liberals of MR. This has been confirmed to our editors by CD&V. Even more surprising: MR also sits down with Deputy Prime Minister David Clarinval.
The MR unexpectedly announced yesterday after its party office that it did not want to continue negotiations on the tax reform for the time being. The chance that Prime Minister De Croo could still conclude an agreement before the national holiday – as he has been announcing for weeks – therefore became virtually non-existent.
Vivaldi has been trying for weeks to find an agreement on the tax reform, the showpiece of Finance Minister Vincent Van Peteghem (CD&V). The government wants a reduction in the burden for those who work, but the talks are going wrong on financing. Throughout the past weekend, the core cabinet was stuck on bilateral talks between the prime minister and the deputy prime ministers. The MR in particular would be inconvenient.
LOOK: MR chairman Georges-Louis Bouchez says there is still a lot of work to do to reach an agreement.
The tax reform is financed in the current proposals by tax increases for citizens, consumers and businesses. “Giving something with one hand and taking it back with the other is not acceptable to the MR,” it sounds.
In addition, according to the party, the proposals to stimulate work are missing and the plans do not provide for a proportional tax reduction for the self-employed within the same period as the employees. The MR believes that it would be better for the talks to run parallel to the budget preparation in the autumn.
OUR OPINION. “We are no longer warmed up by this laundry list of messy measures” (+)
ANALYSIS. Why it’s no surprise that MR pulls the plug on tax reform (+)
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