HELSINKI: The incoming centre-right government ran into controversy Saturday over its plans to cut tax rates for high earners after it emerged the issue had caused the failure of coalition talks.
Lars Løkke Rasmussen, the leader of the Venstre party, said Friday his party would govern alone after coalition talks with the anti-immigration Danish People’s Party (DF) broke down.
On Saturday, Danish media reported that one of the main reasons for the failure of the talks was Rasmussen’s wish to slash taxes on the highest earners from the current 15 percent to 10 percent. The tax on high earners (topskat) is paid by those who earn over 459,200 kroner ($68,725, 61,550 euro) per year and is paid on top of other income taxes.
DF, which became the second-biggest political force in the June 18 general election, said it could not accept the proposal after it had campaigned for increased pensions and healthcare credits. “We are not interested in a reduction in the top level of income tax and we will have nothing to do with it,” the party’s vice-president Søren Espersen told Politiken.
