Štěch and Hamáček veer off course

Senate Pres. Milan Štěch of ČSSD killed two birds with one stone by proclaiming last week that the health and social taxes on the self-employed could be raised as a way to move more people into industrial jobs. He not only nipped in the bud any unwelcome talk about his own candidacy for president, but he also gave Lubomír Zaorálek a chance to bring into line party leaders who were veering off course. ČSSD must stick to its election program, Zaorálek said with authority. Then Štěch's counterpart in the lower house, Jan Hamáček of ČSSD, made an off-the-cuff remark that worries investors as much as Štěch's comment upset freelancers. Hamáček told Právo that ČSSD "could look at the taxation of dividends" as a way to make high wage-earners pay more tax. Hamáček apparently didn't read the election program either. It talks about taxing sales of companies and shares at the same 15% rate as dividends, but nothing about "looking at the taxation of dividends."