The Federation of Belgian Enterprises (FEB) wants minimum wages to be tax-free in order to increase purchasing power, said its managing director Pieter Timmermans in an interview with La Libre Belgique.
The FEB wants to increase the tax-free bracket to €10,000, and to raise the flat-rate cost deduction to €5,000 for everyone. "It is in this low-wage bracket that the impact is most significant. This is a way of supporting the most precarious households and supporting domestic consumption," Timmermans explained.
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The measure is part of a recovery plan called "4X4," which includes economic, social, ecological and digital components.
While the basic idea is to simplify, it is above all a question of "bringing the net salary level up to a much more attractive level than unemployment benefits" and avoiding promotion traps.
The Brussels Times