Steven N.A new poll conducted by 21 Research Center and published by Telex shows that 86% of opposition party supporters oppose changes to KATA, a tax structure for small-scale entrepreneurs. Among those who use the scheme or live in the same household as someone who does, 85% oppose such changes.
Voters of the ruling Fidesz-KDNP coalition were also almost equally divided on the question: 38% approved of it, 36% were opposed to it, and the rest did not express an opinion on the tax regime used by 450,000 Hungarians.
The poll also showed that a majority of those who do not even have a KATA taxpayer in their household disapprove of the government-sponsored measure.
8% of KATA taxpayers said that the change would be unbearably difficult for them, with another 37% calling it very difficult. Only 22% in this group said that they would have no difficulty at all with the austerity measure.
For 55% of respondents, the changes to KATA did not affect their opinion of the government, but 36% said they now have a worse opinion of the government.
Even 20% of Fidesz voters expressed disappointment in the government, while no one in the survey thought more positively about the Orbán regime as a result of the tax law changes.
However, 21 Research Center cautions that such shifts in public opinion do not necessarily translate into changes in voter behavior at the ballot box. [HVG]
