AZE.US
New taxes and mandatory payments will place the greatest burden on low-income families and the middle class, according to Tural Abbasli, chairman of Azerbaijan’s AG Party, also known as the White Party.
In a sharply worded video address posted on YouTube, Abbasli accused officials of focusing on how to collect more money from citizens without considering how ordinary people will cover their basic expenses.
He questioned what authorities consider disposable income in a country where the minimum monthly wage is about 400 manats ($235).
“A person earns 500, 600 or 1,000 manats. Which part of that salary is supposed to be extra income?” Abbasli said. “How will a worker, teacher, doctor or engineer pay all these charges, and what will they live on afterward?”
That is equivalent to roughly $294, $353 and $588 a month.
Abbasli also appealed directly to members of Azerbaijan’s parliament, urging them not to automatically approve every bill submitted for a vote.
“Do not press the ‘yes’ button on every document placed before you,” he said. “Ask how a worker, farmer, teacher, doctor or engineer is supposed to pay.”
He also criticized tax changes affecting hybrid vehicles, saying they had pushed prices up by about 20%.
According to Abbasli, a car that previously cost 15,000 manats ($8,824) could now sell for 17,000 to 18,000 manats ($10,000 to $10,588).
“The message is: who are you to drive a newer car?” he said sarcastically. “Go drive an old Prius, an old Lada 2106 or 2107.”
Abbasli also criticized the additional excise charge imposed when an individual brings a second mobile phone into the country within one year.
He argued that higher taxes on rental income would ultimately be passed on to tenants rather than absorbed by landlords.
“If someone rented an apartment for 500 manats ($294) and is now required to pay a 10% tax, they will tell the tenant: you now have to pay 550 manats ($324),” Abbasli said. “Who will bear the burden again? Ordinary citizens.”
He was particularly critical of proposals affecting access to mandatory health insurance for people who are not formally employed.
“A person is already unemployed and has no money,” Abbasli said. “Now you want to take away their health insurance too. Does that mean that if you have no money and pay no taxes, you are no longer considered a person or a citizen?”
He described the approach as a policy under which a citizen’s value is determined by their ability to pay.
“You are treated as a human being according to how much money you have,” he said. “You are treated as a citizen according to how much you can pay.”
Continuing in a sarcastic tone, Abbasli suggested that officials might as well introduce taxes on beards, hats, weddings, funerals, meat, windows, sunlight and fresh air.
“If sunlight and air enter through your window, why not tax that too?” he said.
Abbasli ended his address by appealing to Azerbaijan’s 125 lawmakers to reject or return the disputed measures for reconsideration.
He warned that repeatedly increasing the financial burden on citizens could deepen public anger.
“The fact that people are not taking to the streets or holding rallies does not mean you can keep loading more and more costs onto them,” Abbasli said. “There will eventually be a breaking point.”
AZE.US