MPs Override President's Veto, Levy for Retail Chains to Be Introduced

MPs Override President's Veto, Levy for Retail Chains to Be Introduced
Bratislava, December 13 (TASR) – MPs on Thursday overrode President Andrej Kiska’s veto concerning the law on a special levy for retail chains, approving it in its original wording, which sets the levy at 2.5 percent of net turnover, TASR learnt on the same day.

The bill was supported by 78 MPs out of the 135 present, while 43 were against and 14 abstained from voting.
The law on a special levy for retail chains was originally okayed on December 6 with 74 votes. However, President Andrej Kiska vetoed the act, as he considers the new special levy to be a non-systemic tool that discriminates against certain retail chains in relation to others by setting numerous and overlapping terms for paying the levy. Kiska believes that the law will burden retailers with an additional tax that will ultimately be paid by consumers.
The new legislation was submitted by a group of MPs from the coalition Slovak National Party (SNS) who claim that it will support Slovak farmers and domestic food producers, as the money obtained from the levy should be used to create a risk fund and a marketing fund to support sales of Slovak food.