– In my opinion, negotiations with the government can only be conducted at the negotiating table – this is how the president of the National Taxi Association justified the fact that they did not participate in the Wednesday demonstration announced by the taxi drivers’ interest protection organization.
Zoltán Metál said in the afternoon program of the current channel M1: already last year they formulated a proposal for the Ministry of Finance, which affects not only taxi drivers, but also the entire individual small business sector, to raise the limit of the individual VAT exemption, which can help those whose income is the current 12 touches the HUF limit. According to the president of the association, there are examples of this in several EU countries.
He said that due to the increase in costs, the taxi entrepreneurs are also striving for more income, so due to the higher income, they may already cross the limit after which they would have to pay the 27 percent VAT.
He indicated that the ministry was receptive to their proposal, the government did not reject or sweep away the proposal, it only asked for patience, which the National Taxi Association understood.
Zoltán Metál put it this way: Minister of National Economy Márton Nagy’s announcement on Tuesday that the government was dealing with the issue “pulled out the venom of the demonstration” and became pointless.
According to his description, he also consulted with government commissioner Zsolt Nyitrai on Tuesday, and this confirmed his opinion that it is only worthwhile to organize a street demonstration if “all ropes break”, but according to his assessment, they have not yet reached this point.
He recalled that in recent years the government had already taken several measures in the interests of taxi drivers, such as the tax exemption, the non-refundable subsidy of several million forints for the purchase of electric cars, and the extension of the “mandate” of ten-year-old cars to 13 years 2020 in view of the emergency at the time. Of the approximately 7,200 taxis operating in Budapest today, 2,500 have such extended mandates, the telegraph office said.
Regarding the limitation of the number of taxi drivers in the capital, which was another main demand of the demonstration, Zoltán Metál said that it is unconstitutional, since if someone meets the conditions for starting a business, the right cannot be revoked.
He said that good relations have been established with both the government and local governments in recent years, and results can only be achieved at the negotiating table.
Source: magyarnemzet.hu
