Political analysts polled on Wednesday told MTI that the constitutional court’s decision to scrap a part of the new property tax hurt the ruling Socialist Party, but could also have some negative implications for the rival opposition Fidesz.
The ruling against the property tax is uncomfortable for the Socialists as it has created a gap in the budget which they must fill, senior analyst at the Nezopont Institute Agoston Samuel Mraz told MTI. The Socialist Party will not want tax hike to become a topic of the campaign before spring elections, which could create tension between the government and the party, Mraz added.
The government had expected around 50 billion forints (EUR185m) in 2010 in proceeds from the tax introduced on January 1.
Analyst Kornelia Magyar of the Progressive Institute said that the court ruling only axed a part of the tax and on grounds of technical deficiencies, so the principle of introducing such a tax was not attacked. “This decision was not a political defeat for the Socialists,” she said, adding that it even took a little wind out of Fidesz’s sail in the campaign, in which the property tax could have featured high.
Analyst at Political Capital Attila Juhasz said the scrapping of the tax was bad for the Socialists and bad for the budget. Having to make a decision on replacing the revenue fallout during the campaign could have a negative effect for the Socialists, Juhasz said. On the other hand, Fidesz will lose the chance to earn points by scrapping the property tax as a benign act when they come into power, he added.
But Fidesz that wanted to scrap the tax already knows where to find these 50 billion HUFs missing from the State budget, so they just need to tell that in their election campaign, not…