By Chrysostomos Tsoufis

From her new building AADE the prime minister tried to convince even the most skeptical that his government wants to keep cutting taxes. But it’s one thing to want and another thing to be able to…

The new fiscal rules – despite the improved terms achieved by the government – ​​are not only loose, and if operational, defense and pension costs are removed, which will increase every year, they leave the government with a margin of around €1 billion/year for interventions. For 2026, the space is only €820 million.

Don’t see money, the government inextricably links the reduction of tax burdens with the results of the war on tax evasion. And she feels optimistic that in 2027 – the last year of the second administration – she will be able to collect an additional €2.5 billion just from cracking down on tax evasion.

In the 2nd cycle tax breaks which is in the works, the central axes are the following:

Indirect tax reductions REMAIN out of the picture. Consequently, we are not going to have reduced VAT and VAT until 2027, apart from a shocking contingency.

At the core is the middle class, the salaried average worker.

The middle class was the big loser of the previous reform of the income tax scale. The reduction of the import rate to 9% greatly favored low incomes.
The 2nd tier – €10,001-€20,000 – has a 22% rate
and 28% the third tier from €20,001 to €30,000.
The difference is chaotic so there is a bright field of glory for an intervention.

A further boost to workers’ incomes will result from the 0.5% reduction that remains to be made in insurance contributions (From 1/1/2025 the government has announced a reduction of 1 unit) in order to implement the pre-election commitment of reducing the 5 units in total.

From 2026, the reduction of presumptions by 30% will proceed. A special committee has already been set up to examine the interventions that need to be made and will make its recommendations to the leadership of the Ministry of Finance

As long as most, if not all, of the “doors and windows” of tax evasion are closed – as a Ministry of Finance official told characteristically – through myAADE, the connection of cash registers with POS and soon with the IRIS system and the rest of the initiatives undertaken and will be taken over by the AADE, the presumptive way of taxing freelancers and the self-employed will also be a thing of the past. A measure which, however, is generally considered successful as it has increased declared turnover and revenue in public coffers, while few taxpayers have contested it

Income tax from rents, pensioners’ solidarity levy, reduction of business taxes are not currently part of the financial staff’s thoughts.