On Thursday, the Seimas approved the corresponding amendment to the Personal Income Tax Law after its presentation. 34 MPs voted for it, eight were against, 19 abstained. Next, the draft will be considered by the committees of the Seimas, and the Government will be asked to submit its conclusion.
The “peasant” Aurelijs Veryga, who presented the project, claimed that recovering part of the costs would be a big boost for shooters and volunteer soldiers.
“This concession would be a very serious boost, because both weapons and equipment are really expensive, and it’s not easy for people to buy them,” he said.
According to the project, shooters and volunteer soldiers or other active reserve soldiers could recover part of the GPM for the costs incurred in purchasing category B and C weapons, their ammunition, and equipment for military service.
“Those persons who declared their income could recover a certain part of the personal income tax they paid,” explained A. Veryga.
Now, in this way, part of the contributions to pensions and life insurance funds, as well as the fee for professional training according to the formal vocational training program, are returned to residents once a year.
According to A. Veryga, shooters, volunteer soldiers or other active reserve soldiers could take advantage of this discount not only when purchasing weapons, but also when purchasing bulletproof vests or ballistic plates, helmets, thermal imagers, drones, unmanned aerial vehicles, their parts, other equipment or .
“When Hamas attacked the State of Israel, a part of the population there, especially in the kibbutzim, who had weapons, used those weapons and defended their loved ones, resisted the attackers. Today, we have a growing community of shooters and volunteers who are very civic-minded and patriotic, and this would be a very serious support for them in defending the country,” said the member of the Seimas.
The proponents of this amendment also propose to increase excise taxes on tobacco and alcohol by one additional percent, in order to offset the cost of the relief to the state budget.
“People donate their time, people donate their money to buy guns. I don’t think it is necessary to make these concessions to everyone, because some citizens will get into a car and take soap to the West. Why do they have to receive any benefits or compensations?” – wondered the former commander of the army, conservative Arvydas Pocius, who supports benefits only for shooters and soldiers.
The project was criticized by his party colleague, Finance Minister Gintarė Skaistė. According to her, there is already a lack of funds for national defense, so new tax benefits cannot be created.
“Are the people who are buying guns today buying to get a discount from the state to get back their personal income tax?” I don’t think so,” she said.
“I also have a gun at home, perhaps the difference is that you (meaning A. Veryga – BNS) received it as a gift from the former prime minister, our family had to purchase it. Would I buy more because of the personal income tax benefit and the possibility of getting (some of the money) back, I think not. I think that it is the duty of each of us to contribute to the formation of the state budget so that it is possible to adequately finance the needs of national defense, which are really very large,” she asserted and emphasized that paying taxes is also patriotism.
The authors of the project claim that they do not know how much budget funds might be needed to apply this benefit, because it is not clear how many people will want to use it.
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2024-08-13 18:24:06
