Delfi: Government could curb tax hike
According to Delfi, Finance Minister Sven Sester made a proposal to the plan to increase tax on hotels from 9 percent to 20 percent, and stop the liquid fuels excise duty hike in 2018, not in 2019 as initially planned.
Sester proposes to cut public spending and further increase tax on alcohol and tobacco instead, Delfi reported.
The coalition agreement currently foresees a 10-percent increase in fuel excise duty each year up to 2019. The government has also planned to loose tax exceptions of hotels and other accommodation businesses, who currently only pay 9 percent VAT.
Curbing fuel tax hike could be linked to similar moves in Latvia and Lithuania. Sester said if neither country increases tax on fuel, Estonia should also reevaluate its plan as petrol prices in Estonia would otherwise become too expensive compared to Latvia and Lithuania.
Editor: J.M. Laats