Scientific and professional bodies, expressing their reaction to the tax measures being promoted by the government, are holding today, Wednesday, November 22, at 1:00 p.m., a protest rally outside the Ministry of Finance in Syntagma Square.

Gathering will take place at 12:00 in Korai Square.

The following scientific and professional bodies will take part in the mobilization: Plenary of the Presidents of the Bar Associations of Greece, Technical Chamber of Greece, General Confederation of Professional Craftsmen and Merchants of Greece, Hellenic Dental Federation, Professional Chamber of Athens, Geotechnical Chamber of Greece, Technical Chamber of Athens, Hellenic Confederation of Commerce and Entrepreneurship, Panhellenic Veterinary Association, Coordinating Committee of Notarial Associations of Greece, Commercial Association of Athens, Federation of Court Administrators of Greece, Medical Association of Athens, Union of Dietitians of Greece, Panhellenic Association of Physiotherapists. Symbolically, the Panattic Federation of Associations of Professional Market Sellers will participate in the mobilization.

As it was said during a press conference held on Monday 20 November ahead of the mobilization, the government’s announcements on the new tax measures, with the introduction of presumptive taxable income, are hitting freelancers, scientists and small and medium-sized businesses, since in the name of supposedly to combat tax evasion, horizontal and therefore unfair measures are promoted and the practice “better few than many, than many than few” is adopted.

ESEE: The truth about retail trade and the new taxation presumptions in 6 questions and answers

In the meantime, the National Confederation of Commerce and Entrepreneurship (CNEC), in today’s announcement, reports 6 questions and answers about the new self-employed tax presumptions.

Analytically:

1. Why is retail asking to be exempted from the new tax bill and the presumptive calculation of minimum taxable income?

Individual retail businesses already fall under a web of sophisticated direct and indirect control techniques and electronic monitoring of their incomes, which makes any thought of tax evasion impossible in advance. The universal POS installation and digital transformation of the industry is strong and indisputable proof. In addition, they are fully harmonized with the regime of electronic books/”MyData” and the multitude of obligations arising from them, as a result of which the tax control mechanisms have at all times a complete picture of their real financial figures and possible irregularities.

Therefore, and since the retail sector is one of the first to already apply the most modern tools for detecting and combating tax evasion, what is the reason for preferring the horizontal solution of imputed profits? The tax administration’s insistence on anachronistic methods of indirect and approximate income calculation cancels the modernizing and innovative work that it evangelizes.

2. How likely is the tax bill under consultation to achieve its objectives? That is, to limit the shadow economy and fairly tax freelancers?

The failure of promoted changes must be taken for granted. The use of unfair and outdated income presumptions will cause greater distortions while disincentivizing legitimate business initiatives. In any case, there will be a huge bleeding of fiscal revenues, both from the excessive tax burdens that will arise for those who already have zero liquidity and who will be forced to stop their professional activity, but also for those entrepreneurs who already declare above the prescribed limit of 10,920 euros , who will be tempted to hide their real incomes. In addition, many freelancers will deactivate their TIN by going out of business and move entirely into the “black” economy.

3. Are the innovations of the new system, such as the connection with the minimum wage of the private sector and the increase of the income criterion with the years of operation of the business, not moving in the right direction?

On the contrary. The minimum annual presumptive income of €10,920 has resulted from reducing the minimum wage to 14 rather than 12 wages, which is incorrect, as the self-employed and employers do not receive 2 additional wages per year, like private employees. In addition, the aforementioned minimum presumptive income equivalent to taxable income has been calculated on the basis of gross and not – as it should be – net earnings of the minimum wage. As for the seniority criterion, it is the most absurd thing that has been devised in several years, as instead of rewarding it further punishes those businesses that have suffered the pain of successive crises (financial, health and recently energy/accuracy).

4. Is the statement of the ministry’s leaders correct that a freelancer cannot declare lower incomes than an employee of the private sector who is paid the minimum wage?

Of course not. Such erroneous generalizations are made by those who are outside the real economy and have no knowledge of the risks involved in undertaking a business initiative. Unlike salaried work, where earnings are known in advance, exercising professional activity does not guarantee anything, let alone a minimal percentage of profit. In short, the determination of demand is a complex process with the result that it cannot be ordered, even if the working hours are much more than those of an employee. Therefore, the declaration of losses and low taxable profits should not cause surprise or suspicion in the tax control mechanisms.

5. Is the excessive increase in income tax the only burden foreseen in the draft law for the self-employed?

Unfortunately, no. Since the presumptive will be taken as real and therefore taxable income, a major issue also arises with the required number of electronic receipts that freelancers should collect. The stipulated retroactive effect of the provisions obliges businesses to spend electronically, equal to 30% not of the incomes they declare but of their presumptive ones, otherwise a fine equal to 22% of the observed amounts of deviations will be imposed. This means that a business with 6 years of operation should collect a minimum of 3,276 euros/year, an amount that is increased for businesses with 7 years of operation or more. The worst, however, is that the required transactions by electronic means must be carried out within the next 40 days, i.e. until the end of 2023, due to the stipulated retroactivity of the measure.

6. Are the strong protests and reactions from market players and freelance sectors on the draft law under consultation justified?

Absolutely. Articles 10 – 18 of the S/N are a setback in the effort to modernize the tax administration, as they refer to the unjust and outdated presumptions of living and also to the illogical establishment of the presumption fee, which, however, are still valid to this day. These articles give a regressive rather than an innovative character to the new tax system, leading to the general stigmatization of many professions and professions as tax evaders. Worse, however, is that it calls into question the integrity and dignity of thousands of consistent taxpayers, many of whom are close to retirement but are likely to be deprived of it due to the inability to meet the tax debts they are expected to accumulate. The retroactive nature and the – in fact – unwillingness or confession of inability to crack down on tax evasion in the 20 most prone and clearly defined by the tax administration itself economic branches/professions, which do not include retail trade, make the indignation and the feeling of injustice of the victims.