"In the most heavily taxed country in the world, there is one thing we absolutely must not do: introduce new taxes," said Georges-Louis Bouchez on VTM. "There is a lot of social fraud in our country, for example fake long-term sick people who are perfectly capable of working and therefore contributing. Vooruit would do better to focus on this problem, as it will cost us €19 billion by 2029."
According to the MR President, €20 billion in savings will be needed by 2030 to restore public finances. "That is in any case far more than the €8 billion currently being discussed, if we want to carry out the necessary reforms. And this must be done without new taxes, because we already live in the most heavily taxed country in the world. Every year, the State spends €330 billion, or 55% of GDP. Two things need to be done: reduce public spending and boost economic growth and the competitiveness of our businesses."
The MR will submit a plan to the government to this end. "We want businesses to be taxed less, subject to fewer rules and administrative burdens, and able to obtain permits more quickly. This will encourage investment in our country. Currently, large companies are leaving Belgium, such as ExxonMobil in Antwerp."
An exceptional law for industry
"Why not introduce a special exceptional law for industry?" suggests Bouchez. "This law should relax rules and obligations, speed up administrative deadlines and provide specific tax mechanisms for anyone who invests in Belgium within the year. This would attract investors, since we must not forget that we are competing with the rest of the world."
The wealth tax
And what about the wealth tax that Vooruit wants? "I saw the 'Voortaks' campaign to create new taxes. This obsession with wanting to tax effort and success has to stop. There is no tax that the so-called 'rich' don't already pay more of compared to the middle class," says Bouchez. "We can only consider new taxes once no one is taxed more than 30%, which is not the case in Belgium. We have the highest rates in the world on labour and are among the top for taxes on capital. In the end, it's always the middle class that ends up paying, through price increases passed on at the till."
"If one day there are no more well-off people in our country, then we will have achieved the equality that the left envisions… but we will all be poor," concludes Bouchez.