For a rate of more than 5% on the distributed dividends of companies from 100,000 euros and above, the press representative of PASOK-Movement for Change also spoke on Tuesday, Dimitris Manzos after the statements of the candidate of the State ballot of the party Panagiotis Doudonis to SKAI.

Mr. Manzos clarified that “we are not talking about business profits. We are talking about the distributed dividend on earnings. It is the amount, the income that every legal or natural person receives as a dividend. So, the dividend, not the earnings. The dividend that exceeds 100,000 euros is a dividend which in our opinion – the excess, as long as it is over 100,000 euros – can and should be taxed at a rate greater than 5%, which is the lowest rate in Europe”. I want to say at this point, stressed the PASOK official, that similar coefficients apply in other European countries. And, in fact, the OECD has also made relevant proposals to correct this perverse political choice of the horizontal rate of 5% on all distributed dividends. So, this is the answer in relation to the amount of the dividend.”

PASOK’s tax policy, he clarified, has a clear objective: The fair distribution of tax burdens, which will finance a modern and efficient welfare state, which will reduce social and economic inequalities. For this reason we propose reducing the tax burden on wage labour, increasing tax relief for families with children and reducing indirect taxes on basic consumer goods and energy, while accuracy lasts. We also propose reducing the unacceptably high tax-free limit for parental benefits from the current €4.8 million cap to €400,000 for each parent.

Regarding distributed dividends from corporate profits, which are currently taxed horizontally at the lowest rate in Europe of 5%, we propose a graduated progressive taxation as follows:

  • For the first 50,000 euros of the distributed dividend, the tax rate remains at 5%
  • The excess part above 50,000 and up to 100,000 is taxed – AND ONLY THIS – at a rate of 10%
  • and if the dividends exceed 100,000 euros, the additional part is again taxed at 15%.

“Why is it completely unfair that dividends of 30,000, 40,000 and 50,000 euros are taxed the same as the mammoth dividends of millions” he said.

“Government representatives are insisting on the list of companies, which distributed 2.5 billion euros in dividends and boosted their profits up to 303.6% in 2022. We refer them to the reports of many newspapers and other media. As an example, I show you the relevant publication of Kathimerini of May 3. After these facts, let the former ministers and the representatives of the New Democracy leave the montage and the protection of the big financial interests. They must understand that they are not aggressors but apologists for the works and days of the New Democracy Government. We will speak our programmatic truths and our programmatic commitments and they will circulate their lies,” he said.

Mr. Manzos invited Mr. Schertsos to answer:

  • how much money has entered the public coffers from the taxation – and indeed at a rate of 90% – of the surplus profits of the energy suppliers?
  • how and in what way will the ND’s commitment to a 25% increase in the average salary in the private sector be implemented?
  • why did the New Democracy Government commit the country without any dialogue to primary surpluses, reaching up to 2.5% in 2026 with the risk of reinstating austerity policies and abandoning social infrastructure?
  • Since last year, the government has commissioned IOBE to propose new tax measures for the self-employed. Can he make the relevant study public, tell us what these measures are, or will he wait to announce them after the elections?

“Lappus linguae”

Mr. Manzos made it clear that “there is no issue with Mrs. Chronopoulou” referring to the sardam of the PASOK State ballot candidate. It is a slip of the tongue. She clarified it herself in no time. (…) An honorable effort is made to be serious, reliable in our placement in public affairs. I think this is how we are evaluated every day. This is how we were assessed on May 21st and this is how we will be assessed on June 25th. So no problem. We move forward together with self-confidence, with a lot of work and optimism for the next result”.

Asked whether the order of candidates will be respected, as it emerged from the first elections, based on the crucifixion, the representative of PASOK commented that “our combinations have not started to be announced. I think that in the coming days we will have answers to this question as well as to the rest of the questions related to the conduct of the parliamentary elections. It is clear, however, that the last elections have a result, which is respected both in terms of the percentages received by the parties, but also in terms of the votes received by each candidate for our parliament”.

Subject bank

Regarding the dysfunction of the subject bank in the Panhellenic exams, Mr. Manzos mentioned that the president of PASOK-Movement for Change, Nikos Androulakis, made the following statement: For one more day, the failure of the State to ensure the orderly conduct of the exams is highlighted. The staff state once again turned out to be a staff mess. They are playing with the anxiety of the students, trying to place the blame on the interim Government. Of course, this unacceptable situation is not only the responsibility of the Ministry of Education, it is also a matter of cyber security of our national digital infrastructures, a responsibility which, by decision of the Government of the New Democracy, passed to a deputized employee of the Ministry of Digital Governance.

Stationmaster OSE

Regarding the issue of the illegal reassignment of the fatal OSE station master, Dimitris Manzos observed that “the lies of New Democracy about the station master’s reassignment had short legs. From the first moment, PASOK supported documented and with evidence, that the transfer of the station master of Larissa was illegal. However, the competent minister, Mr. Makis Voridis, and the vice-president of the ND, Mr. Adonis Georgiadis, preached on all channels, with alleged legal depth and knowledge, that the transfer was not a bribe. After the conclusion of the committee of experts, which clearly says that the transfer was illegal, the Court now has the floor. The members of the mobility request evaluation committee apologize to the appellant investigator.”

The committee, added the PASOK executive, included, in addition to the OSE’s human resources director, the now former president of the OSE, Mr. Spyros Pateras, as well as the managing director of STASY, Mr. Thanasis Kottaras. “Both are “blue children”. “PASOK will continue to exercise a documented opposition and highlight the truth of the facts, in the face of the lies spread by the ND ministers,” he noted.