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Minister calls for lower taxes on entrepreneurs

The Local Denmark
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Minister calls for lower taxes on entrepreneurs
Morten Østergaard. Photo: Jens Dresling/POLFOTO

Morten Østergaard said its more important to lower taxes on those who are willing to take the risk of starting their own company than it is to lower taxes for salaried employees.

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The tax minister wants to entice more people into starting their own businesses by lowering taxes on the self-employed. 
 
“There is an acute need here and now to look at how we can lower taxes for self-employed business owners,” Morten Østergaard told Berlingske. 
 
Østergaard fears that the government’s tax reform in 2012 that lowered taxes on regular employees has resulted in too few people willing to make the leap into being self-employed. 
 
“We need to think about those people who decide to abandon the secure existence as an employee and instead start their own business,” he told Berlingske. “If you run a risk, there should be some corresponding preferential treatment on the tax front.”
 
Østergaard pointed toward lowering taxes on capital income as a good place to start. 
 
The government reached an agreement with the opposition parties earlier this summer to set aside one billion kroner through 2020 toward lowering taxes to boost the nation’s businesses.
 
Østergaard said that should be seen as a “first step” and that giving business owners in Denmark the chance to keep more of their profits would both spur growth and help create a balance within the national employment market. 
 
“It should pay off to run a business in Denmark, just as it should pay off to work,” he said. 

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