Argo Luude is CEO of the Estonian waste management company AS Eesti Keskkonnateenused, and he says that it is increasingly clear that the country’s government is planning a major change in the area of waste reform – a new tax that will be known as the municipal waste fee.
Luude recognises the fact that that waste management needs additional funding, but given that new taxes and tax hikes are seriously undermining the livelihood of Estonia’s residents, the money must be found in the budget of municipalities, he argues.
“According to the document of legislative intent here, municipalities will be allowed to implement a waste fee as a local tax and that will most likely by implemented by those municipalities which are struggling with budget shortfalls,” Luude said. “Considering the amounts the government is planning to collect, this will certainly be a blow to the wallets of consumers, which are already quite thin. Particularly unfortunate is the fact that much of the new tax revenues will be used to hire significant numbers of people, thus increasing the already large share of public sector employees.”
“The government has promised that the security tax will bring to an end the so-called tax festival, but now it is going back on its word and coming up with an entirely new tax,” the executive complained.
Luude went on to say that people need time to “digest” the new tax and the increases that have already been decided. This means, he added, that the government is shooting itself in the foot when it comes to its credibility. Businesses need a stable tax environment, and citizens need a stable quality of life to work, earn a living and pay their taxes.
“The government is always talking about domestic security, and it needs to understand that there will be a security risk if utility costs lead households to bankruptcy,” Luude said. “The consequences of such situations can be unfathomable.”
The executive also said that the focus on waste reform and why it is being implemented is dissipating.
“The idea behind waste reform is not, figuratively speaking, to fill state coffers with waste, but instead to preserve the quality of Estonia’s living environment and to improve it when and where that is necessary,” Luude said. “In the current situation, the waste tax is a very bad idea, and it should be abandoned for the time being.”
Source: BNS
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