Ahead of the FBiH House of Representatives session: Will SDA make concessions to HDZ on betting shops?

SARAJEVO, (Patria) - A new attempt to hold the sixth regular session of the House of Representatives of the FBiH Parliament is planned for Tuesday.

The session, on whose agenda are important laws on taxes and contributions, was supposed to be held at the beginning of this month, specifically on October 9. However, numerous objections to the proposed laws, primarily from HDZ BiH, led to the postponement of the session.

The issue that has been controversial for HDZ for years is betting shops and the taxation of games of chance.

This time, the problem is Article 40 of the Draft Law on Income, which stipulates that winnings up to 100 KM are taxed. The second problematic item for HDZ is the increase in tax for winnings over 100 KM.

According to the proposal, the tax on winnings above 100 KM would be increased from 10 to 13 percent.

The last session was canceled because HDZ was not ready. Ahead of the new attempt to hold the session, a meeting of the HDZ BiH and SDA party delegations will be held, led by presidents Dragan Čović and Bakir Izetbegović.

Although the focus of the meeting is the formation of government at the state and federal levels, it is very possible that the taxation of betting shops will be among the topics of discussion.

It is only questionable whether SDA is ready to make concessions to HDZ again regarding the taxation of games of chance.

However, HDZ was not the only one dissatisfied with the proposed laws of the sixth regular session of the House of Representatives.

We remind you that, in addition to the Draft Law on Income Tax, the following should be considered at that session: Draft Law on Contributions, Draft Law on Income Tax, Draft Law on Accounting and Auditing in the Federation of BiH, and Draft Law on the Register of Financial Reports.

Deputies from both the ruling and opposition parties had objections to the laws. Representatives of employers and trade unions are also dissatisfied with the package of laws, which they confirmed in statements before the first attempt to hold the session.

Therefore, it is difficult to predict the outcome of the sixth regular session, the content of which is important for the overall life in the Federation of BiH.