"Eesti 200 does not support the finance minister's proposal in this form, because the impact analysis shows that this tax will hit those business sectors that have been hardest hit by the economic crisis: manufacturing, exports, communications and information, and the accommodation and tourism sector," said Kristina Kallas.

"The wage tax increase will have the strongest impact on the exporting sector of the Estonian economy and on those companies that produce something. We cannot provide another blow to the export sector, which contributes to the long term development of the Estonian economy," Kallas added.

According to the Eesti 200 leader, the government's priority must be to steer the economy out of the crisis, create a stable business environment and restore economic competitiveness.

"As a state, we also need to find more ways to invest in the economy – Eesti 200 has proposed a measure for large investors. Equally important for entrepreneurs is the availability of skilled labor. Entrepreneurs have been saying for several years that to strengthen the competitiveness of the economy, we need to increase the foreign labor quota."

According to Kallas, the government's emphasis ought to be on ensuring the stability of the business environment, tax policy has to be known in advance and the current spell of unpredictability needs to end.

"It is equally important to take bold steps to cut red tape, put a long-term investment plan in place and make bold moves to tackle the problem of labor availability," Kallas said.

Minister of Finance Jürgen Ligi (Reform) said in an interview with ERR on August 16 that he is considering an additional 2 percent tax on all employee salaries in lieu of an advance income tax on company profits. According to Ligi, this tax would be easier to collect, and would not be a burden for businesses.

Ligi's proposal was initially only opposed by the SDE, while Eesti 200 took a neutral position.

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