Cronomy

I dok u Hrvatskoj glavnu riječ u društveno političkom životu ima nova koalicija, raspodijela fotelja i tko će navući veću vreću iz proračuna, u ostatku normalnog svijeta glavnu riječ ipak vodi ekonomska politika sa ciljem veće ekonomskog rasta. Kod nas se još ne govori o podizanju poreza, ali nema ni govora ni o bilo kojem snižavanju stopa. Naravno ne može ni biti kada se sada nakon koaliranja gleda kako povećati stavke u proračunu zbog političkih razloga. Upravo suprotno od onoga što bi trebalo kako bi se mogli smanjiti i pojednostaviti porezi za/na građane i poduzetnike. Ako vam je promaklo, Bugarska je od 1. Siječnja zamjenila progresivni porez sa tri stope i uvela flat-tax od 10% - najniža u Europi i vjerojatno najniža u svijetu. Nova Poljska Vlada je isto najavila snižavanje poreznih stopa.

11 zemalja istočne Europe je do sada uvelo flat-tax (proporcionalni porez). Zemlje Zapadne Europe, koje su se u početku bunile zbog “nepoštene” porezne konkurencije novih članica, sada same režu poreze zbog povećane konkurencije iz Istočne Europe gdje se režu porezi kako si bi privukle investicije, olakšala ponuda i jednostavno stvorilo konkurentniju, zdraviju, ekonomiju. Jedna od razloga za uvođenje flat-tax u Bugarskoj je zbog smanjenja udjela sive ekonomije. Socijalisti u Španjolskoj obećavaju ukidanje poreza na bogatstvo jer je jedno od najviših u Europi i jer “kažnjava štednju.” Kod nas se smanjivanje poreznih stopa koristi samo kao jeftini izborni slogani, ne misli se ozbiljno o tome. Hrvatskoj nije nužno potreban flat-tax, iako uvođenje bi imalo neke benefite, jer problem, za sada, nije na prihodovnoj strani, već rashodovnoj. No Hrvatskoj jest potrebno smanjenje određenih poreza i rasterećenja ekonomije od rentijerskih skupina zbog kojih porezi jesu visoki. Da ne duljim….

A Supply-Side World

January 7, 2008 Page A12

Democrats in Congress remain committed to raising taxes on grounds that tax rates don’t much matter to economic growth, and in any case they only help the rich. They may be the last public officials on the planet to believe this. In recent weeks alone, some of the unlikeliest political leaders have endorsed tax rate cuts in the name of making their economies better.

Start in Europe, where Socialist Party Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero pledged in December that if re-elected, “One of the first decisions I would take is to eliminate the wealth tax [up to 2.5%],” which he says is one of the highest in Europe and “punishes savings.” Mr. Zapatero is no conservative. But he’s joining the European march down the Laffer Curve on taxes, having already phased in reductions in Spain’s corporate tax rate to 30% from 35% and its personal income tax rate to 43% from 45%.

Like France and Germany, Spain is cutting rates because of the tax competition from their European Union neighbors such as Ireland and East Europe. There are now at least 11 nations formerly behind the Iron Curtain with flat rate taxes of 25% or lower. On January 1, a new flat tax of 10% became law in Bulgaria, replacing its progressive rate structure and as far as we know the lowest such rate in the world. The newly elected Polish parliament is also planning to cut taxes, though an earlier flat-tax proposal earned a veto threat from the president.

And this just in: In the Middle East, Kuwait has decided to slash its corporate income tax on foreign companies to 15% from 55%. Finance Minister Mostafa al-Shemali argued for the cut, noting that Kuwait attracted less than $300 million in foreign investment last year, compared to some $18 billion in lower-tax Saudi Arabia (which has a religious tax but no corporate or income tax on Saudi nationals). “This law will encourage foreign investors to enter Kuwait,” says Ahmed Baqer, head of the parliament’s finance panel.

It’s getting lonelier all the time at the top for America, which with a corporate tax rate of 35% is one of the few developed nations left with a rate of more than 30%. Economist Dan Mitchell tracks these trends for the Cato Institute, and he finds that 26 developed nations have cut either personal or corporate income tax rates since 2005. Since 1980, OECD nations have sliced their average personal income tax rate by 24 percentage points, to 40% from 64%. Corporate tax rates have fallen by more than 20 percentage points. Foreign leaders have learned that, in a world of easy global capital flows, high tax rates chase away investment and entrepreneurs.

Some of these tax-cutting nations — such as Estonia, Ireland, Russia and Spain — have seen revenues rise even as rates have fallen. This is what turns socialists into supply-siders in Spain, if regrettably not in the U.S.

URL for this article:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119966577645371099.html

Copyright 2008 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved