Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said the 10 per cent income tax rate for self-employed proposed by the PN would discriminate between different categories of workers and self-employed.

A doctor working in the public service would be earning less and paying more tax than a self-employed doctor earning more

“The PN's pledge means that a doctor working in the public service would be earning less and paying more tax than a self-employed doctor earning more,” Dr Muscat said at Mtarfa.

Read: PN proposes maximum 10% income tax rate for those earning less than €20,000

He criticised the PN’s tax package and other proposals to increase pensions, which he said risked creating a black hole in public finances. 

“He will either break the constitution or else deliver nothing of what he is promising because of the constitution,” Dr Muscat said this morning in a first reaction to the PN’s tax proposals.

He insisted the Labour Party would avoid a race to the bottom and stick to its pledges that were costed, feasible, doable and what the country could afford. The PL has pledged tax refunds for all those earning less than €60,000, a measure that will cost €44 million.