Francophone green party Ecolo called on Wednesday for a tax credit for workers earning less than 2,500 euros per month. The party made the call on the occasion of the celebration of International Labour Day.
“Through its work-flexibility measures, the Federal Government has helped increase the number of ‘poor’ workers, that is, those who despite having a contract in due form or independent-worker status, find it difficult to make ends meet,” Ecolo co-presidents Zakia Khattabi and Jean-Marc Nollet noted.
They noted that at least 21% of the 722,941 Belgian workers who are primarily independent contractors did not earn, in 2017, more than 1,139 euros per month, the European poverty threshold for contractors.
The tax credit proposed by the Greens is a deduction from the total amount of tax a worker is required to pay. It would earn workers on minimum wage an extra 225 euros net on their salaries.
According to estimates from the Planning Office, this measure will benefit 1.9 million public servants, contractors and other wage-earners.
The Brussels Times
