VAT increase ‘will not harm Estonia’ (26 Jun 2009)
Increasing the rate of VAT in Estonia will not have a negative impact on the country, it has been claimed.
The country’s prime minister Andrus Ansip has stated that it is wrong for companies to presume that upping the tax could lower the consumption of goods.
According to Baltic Business News, E24.ee claims the leader also said it is not true that similar moves have harmed other countries.
"I don’t share the opinion of those people, who say that higher VAT in Latvia and Lithuania reduced turnover in these countries remarkably," he explained at a press conference.
"That is not true and one shouldn’t think of that of Estonia."
The decision to increase the rate of VAT charged in the country to 20 per cent was confirmed last week, after a majority of 54 MPs voted in favour of the move after a reading of the amendment in parliament, according to Aripaev.
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