More than half of Lithuanians oppose new defence tax

More than 54% of Lithuanians oppose a proposal to introduce a universal defence tax as of 2025, a public opinion poll commissioned by the LRT public broadcaster finds.

Around fifth of the respondents said they would support the idea if the tax were levied on both residents and business.

Among those polled, around 40% said they would approve of a new tax intended to raise defence funding. Around 16% would be in favour of the tax paid if it is paid by businesses only and just 4% would agree with the defence tax paid by natural persons only, i.e. all residents of the country, according to the lrt.lt news website.

Another 6% of respondents, more often non-Lithuanians, said they had no opinion on the matter.

The Baltijos Tyrimai pollster interviewed 1,021 Lithuanian residents (aged 18 and older) in a representative survey from 19 to 29 January 2024.