Local taxes and fees can be cut by 50%, says Kelemen Hunor. “The endurance limit has been exceeded”

UDMR leader Kelemen Hunor said, on Tuesday evening, on Digi24, that going back on the decision to increase taxes at all town halls according to the new tax grid is “not a sign of weakness, but a sign of maturity”.

“Everyone saw that at this moment the pressure on every person, every citizen, is very high. Last year there were price increases, inflation almost 10% and the purchasing power decreased. And it was the last straw with these increased taxes,” claimed Kelemen Hunor.

He says that the party he leads requested that “between the lower and upper limit required by the Government, the mayors have the opportunity, until the budget is approved, to return to the decision and give a reduction of up to 50%. Those who are the minimum quota have nowhere to go down”.

According to him, it is primarily about cars, because certain facilities for hybrid cars have been eliminated, and buildings for which the growth was much higher than expected.

“The endurance limit has been exceeded”

The UDMR leader also stated that when there is people's dissatisfaction, when “the limit of bearability has been exceeded”, then “a government can return to a decision. It is not a sign of weakness, it is a sign of maturity, of wisdom, because you cannot govern against the people”.

Kelemen Hunor exemplified by the measures to reduce the texts taken by the Government led by Ilie Bolojan for the inhabitants of the Danube Delta and the Apuseni Mountains: “this can also be said for all UATs, where there is an opportunity to further reduce these taxes”.

“In any case, taxes will be higher than they were last year, because the lower ceiling is higher than a year ago. So it's a rational matter”, argued Kelemen Hunor.

The need to reduce the budget deficit also led to “reckless decisions”

He also referred to the situation of the Government's elimination of local tax exemptions for people with disabilities, showing that the Executive must reconsider this measure and give the possibility to local administrations to reduce these taxes.

Kelemen Hunor argued that “this need to reduce the budget deficit” led “also to reckless decisions”.

“Perhaps not all the calculations were done, there was no time. I was convinced that these increases would be a maximum of 70% (number of taxes and duties) and very often there were increases over 100, 150, 200, 250 times. This must be seen, because a bunch of exemptions or tax reductions for certain social categories were eliminated”, said Kelemen Hunor.

The UDMR leader said that he already had a conversation with Ilie Bolojan about this topic, and the prime minister asked him for “time to think”.

Kelemen Hunor describes Ilie Bolojan: “A tough guy”

Asked, on Digi24, if he suspects Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan of cutting more than necessary, the UDMR leader replied that the head of the Government is “a tough guy”.

“That's how it worked in Oradea, that's how Ilie Bolojan is, so it's not news for anyone,” he added.

However, Hunor emphasized the need for the Executive to return to certain decisions related to taxes for the population. Otherwise, he believes, “by May-June, all support for this government will disappear.”

UDMR takes a step back and asks the coalition to rethink local taxes and fees

UDMR claimed, on Tuesday, in a press release, that “people's anger and disappointment are justified.”

The party led by Kelemen Hunor announced that it is officially initiating, at the level of the Government, the possibility that local public administration authorities can reduce taxes, until the budgets are adopted, within the limits provided by law, and reintroduce fiscal facilities.

At the same time, the party has shown that it has initiated the provision of targeted support for pensioners with low incomes during the year, considering the difficult period we are going through.