A report from the Experts Committee on Tax Reform recently submitted to the Finance Minister has recommended that there should be reductions in direct taxes and in the social security contributions. These would be paid for partly by increases in indirect taxes and partly through expenditure cuts.

The recommendations in the report include a reduction in the number of income tax brackets and a decrease in the top marginal rate of individual income tax. Another recommendation is that the corporate income tax rate should be lowered to approximately 20 percent. The number of corporate tax reliefs would also be reduced to ensure that taxpayers are paying a rate that is more in line with the statutory tax rate. The committee recommended the abolition of the tax regime for small companies as this is a disincentive to growth.