Slovenia to add excise duties to fill national budget hole

The Slovenian cabinet agreed on Sunday to increase excise duties to compensate the shortfall of some 200 million euros (275 million U.S. dollars) in 2014 national budget after Constitutional Court quashed the 2013 real estate tax act in late March. Apart from lifting excise duties, mostly on tobacco and alcohol, the coalition government also agreed to fill the budget hole by saving up to 50 million euros in the public sector, Prime Minister Alenka Bratusek told reporters after the cabinet meeting. The government will revise regulations to allow companies that have overdue obligations to pay them in several instalments, and to reprogram their tax debts. Bratusek expressed belief that noteworthy surpluses of several public institutions, and profits made by state-owned companies, plus increased excise duties will "close the 2014 budget. A controversial real estate tax bill was adopted by the National Assembly on Nov. 15, 2013. New real estate tax was believed to be a crucial source of income for the government when it began taking effect in January 2014. However, Slovenia's Constitutional Court declared the 2013 real estate tax act"null and void", saying that key parts of the tax law was unconstitutional.