Linda Mattison: Every euro is important for pensioners

Although the Constitutional Court recognized in 2007 that taxing pensions with personal income tax complies with the Constitution, this is not a question of the letter of the law, but of our attitude towards the vulnerable part of society.

A similar collective submission of society “Pensions without tax” reached the Saeima already in 2016, however, the Ministry of Finance has not been interested in supporting our seniors or entrepreneurs for a long time.

Perhaps it would be less important to abolish the tax on all pensions, including the large ones, but on the poorest class, which is most at risk of poverty.

Moreover, these are not state budget expenses to be stingy with, because, firstly, every euro is important for pensioners, and secondly, it is money that stays in our economy in the most direct way, and is not spent on expensive foreign trips.

The tax-free minimum for pensioners is 500 euros, which was last increased in 2022. However, since then we have experienced inflation which is significantly reducing the quality of life for our seniors.

Since 2024, for example, the minimum wage in the country has been set at 700 euros, and

it would make sense that this is the minimum, from which pensioners are also not taxed.

At the same time, it must be said that this is a complex issue, so that in the end the municipalities, which receive the majority of the IIN paid by non-pensioners, do not suffer.

The state should compensate municipalities for this lost income, however, we have been seeing such absurd state spending lately that it could not be a problem.

As we see the “New Unity” envelope wage and tax ethos, which is one of the reasons we can’t afford bigger pensions for our seniors.

Unfortunately, pensioners cannot receive money in envelopes, unlike the politicians who have been running the Ministry of Finance for years.

Linda MathisonMember of the Saeima (“Joint List”)

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