Lower house might discuss tax reform during summer break

The lower house might start discussing the government-proposed tax reform package in June and vote on it at an extraordinary session during the summer break, a Finance Ministry spokesman said on Thursday. The cabinet intends to submit the reform bills to parliament as a package and would like to see them take effect in January 2008. A vote on the reform plan will effectively decide on the future of the government which had pledged to step down if it fails to push the reforms through. The reform package is also expected to have a crucial impact on the 2008 state budget as it will determine the level of state revenues and expenditures in the coming year. The governing coalition has no guaranteed majority in the lower house: it has exactly 100 MPs in the 200-seat chamber.