In the wake of the Panama Papers scandal, the question has been raised as to whether to grant tax amnesty in Slovenia. At least 74 Slovenians are implicated in the Panama Papers scandal.

Opponents of the idea believe that waiving penalties for delinquent taxpayers is immoral. Meanwhile, proponents maintain that granting tax amnesty makes sense in certain cases, as this could bring in up to 300 million euros in public revenue.

Last year, a tax amnesty program in Italy raised 3.8 million euros, while France raked in a total of 1.3 billion. Slovenia does not seem to be too fond of the idea, though. The Finance Ministry said that tax amnesty would definitely be the wrong answer to the issue of international tax evasion. According to tax expert Boštjan Petauer, a tax amnesty program would only be feasible if it were a one-off event and limited in time.

It is virtually impossible to determine how much money Slovenians keep in off-shore accounts. According to rough estimates, about 30 billion euros of Slovenian money are stashed in off-shore accounts. If 10 percent of that money were to be returned and taxed at a rate of only 10 percent – which would effectively amount to a tax break – the measure could bring in about 300 million euros in revenue. However, according to Ivan Simič, the former director general of the Slovenian Tax Administration, Slovenia is not ready for tax amnesty.