Only since the beginning of the year have the taxes and duties payable by companies been reduced once again. Corporate tax is now only 23% and companies also pay less for non-wage labor costs. Not only does all of this reduce state revenue, there is also a threat of cuts in social services as well as smaller budgets for important future investments in education and transformation. Now, according to the Finance Minister’s plans, the capital gains tax (KESt) on capital gains from pension portfolios will also be abolished after a certain retention period. This measure is argued to be an important contribution to private pension provision. Investments in cryptocurrencies should also be exempt from capital gains tax after a retention period. For the first time, a regulated framework for the taxation of these highly speculative financial products was created.
The abolition of the one-year retention period for securities capital gains tax in 2012 was a major achievement. After all, those who own stocks and bonds have benefited enormously from the monetary policy measures taken in the wake of the financial crisis – prices have risen sharply. However, those who pay capital gains tax are still privileged – in contrast to employment income, capital gains are not subject to a progressive tax rate, but rather a uniform tax rate of 27.5%. Other countries, however, show that capital gains can certainly be taxed progressively. An example of this is Denmark. High price gains are taxed there at up to 42%. This would also somewhat straighten out the existing imbalance in the tax and contribution structure. Wealthy people in particular benefit from capital gains tax. The top 10% own almost 60% of stock assets in Austria, while the bottom half has just 2%. Those with very low incomes won’t save anything with a capital gains tax exemption anyway; they can now make use of the standard taxation option and can reduce their capital gains tax – depending on the marginal tax rate – to up to 0%.
Apart from that, the introduction of a capital gains tax-exempt pension deposit is not so easy under constitutional law. The risk that a simple legal regulation for such a construction will be repealed by the Constitutional Court cannot be ignored. If it is subsequently determined that the introduction was not constitutional, reversal could become complicated and therefore pose a possible risk for those who set up such a retirement savings account.
The debate should therefore revolve around fairer taxation of capital gains, rather than further preferential treatment for the wealthy. This could create a fairer tax structure and eliminate the preferential treatment compared to taxation of labor.
Miriam Fuhrmann is a specialist in the economics department of the ÖGB.
2024-01-21 20:37:17
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