With the party board's proposal, which the delegates voted down by 122 votes to 92, a member of parliament would be allowed to keep 41,700 kronor after tax from the parliamentary salary after the election. Now the level of 37,530 kronor is maintained. This means that they will continue to pay well over 15,000 kronor in party tax per month.
"37,000 kronor after tax is a lot of money for me. And compared to our members, it's an awful lot of money," said Erik Andersson from Kalmar County, who argued for maintaining the current level.
Melinda Kandel, from Norrköping, reminded that members of parliament get to keep almost double what a care assistant keeps after taxes.
Not enriching oneself
Several representatives described the party tax as part of the party's soul and a declaration of goods for V politicians – you shouldn't have conditions that differ too much from ordinary people. And the party tax ensures that no one takes V assignments to enrich themselves.
- A reduction in the party tax would be a bad signal, claimed Henrik Börefelt Axell from Greater Stockholm.
The party tax is "very important" for the party's finances, according to V's annual report. Last year, the party received 4.7 million in party tax from members of parliament, EU parliamentarians and full-time politicians in municipalities and regions. Almost half of what is invested in the election campaign is party tax money.
Losing capital
"I do not want to see an increase in my salary. The party board's proposal gives an unreasonably high salary and we lose income that we need in the fight against capital," said Sanna-Inga Poromaa, municipal politician in Kiruna.
The party board justified its proposal by saying it wanted to make a correction, a form of salary revision or inflation adjustment, to a decision that was originally made in 2012 and that a later congress had requested a review of.
The party tax means that amounts exceeding 45 percent of the income base amount, after income tax has been paid on the fee, must be paid to the party. The proposal was to raise the limit to 50 percent.
