02.10.2019.

FLAT TAX OR DEMOCRACY?

Towards a Progressive Tax Reform in Bulgaria

Publisher: KOI, Sofia 2019.

download publication

In 2008, Bulgaria introduced a flat tax rate of 10% on income and corporate profits. Together with the absence of tax breaks for low earners or reduced VAT rates for basic amenities, this makes Bulgaria's tax system regressive. This policy paper shows that Bulgaria's flat tax has contributed to soaring levels of inequality in the EU's poorest member. It argues for the gradual re-introduction of progressive taxation, for which it provides two quantitatively substantiated transition models.

But the stakes are even higher: the authors argue that regressive taxation and extreme inequalities are ruinous for democratic rule. Far from being a 'technical matter' to be left for 'experts' to discuss, tax policy is a political issue par excellence.

The policy paper looks at the formation of neo-liberal consensus in support of the flat tax in Bulgaria and provides comparisons to flat tax systems in other post-socialist countries. The study is useful beyond the Bulgarian context, since low flat tax rates are part of a broader deregulatory race to the bottom as new, small capitalist economies seek to gain a 'competitive advantage'.

Tags: Alternative, Economy, Politika, Rad, Radnička prava

30.11.2021.
|
Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung
DOCUMENTING HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATION ON THE SERBIAN-CROATIAN BORDER
Author: Nikola Kovačević
The guidelines aim to improve documenting of and reporting on harmful border practices and human rights violations committed at the border between Serbia and Croatia.
05.07.2021.
|
Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung
THE NEW BALKAN LEFT
Authors: Igor Štiks/Krunoslav Stojaković
On the morning of 15 April 2009, students of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences (Filozofski fakultet) in Zagreb interrupted classes to declare a blockade (blokada) of the premises. What began as just another student strike against the rampant commercialisation of higher education would become the day the Left was born—or rather re-born—in the post-socialist Balkans.
28.02.2021.
|
Roma Forum Serbia
WHEN DOCUMENTS ARE FAR FROM REALITY
Maja Solar (urednica)
The publication represents a collection of critical texts created as a result of years of work of the Roma Forum of Serbia on the programme of political education.

Publication

30.11.2021.

05.07.2021.

28.02.2021.