PRAGUE (Reuters) - The Czech lower house returned the 2013 budget bill to the government for reworking on Wednesday after the cabinet abandoned the draft due to a rebellion in Prime Minister Petr Necas's party over proposed tax hikes.
The rise in sales and income taxes are fundamental to the separate budget bill but Necas has so far been unable to get a handful of his party deputies to support the hikes.
Finance Minister Miroslav Kalousek has said he would resubmit the bill within a month adjusted for about 20 billion crowns (649.47 million pounds) in lower revenue, due to the unclear fate of the proposed sales tax hike.
He said the deficit would remain the same as in the original draft, just under 3 percent of gross domestic product, and that infrastructure and research spending would be cut.
Necas and the rebels have a few more days to find a compromise on the tax bill before a final vote, which may be held next week.
The government has tied a vote of confidence to the tax bill to put pressure on the rebels. A government fall could lead to the formation of a new cabinet, possibly under a different prime minister, or early election.
(Reporting by Robert Mueller, editing by Jan Lopatka)