Deputy Minister of Finance Haris Theocharis responded to what came to light from the side of the lawyers regarding the change in the way of taxation of the self-employed, through his post on social media.

The minister rejects the allegations of a tax storm, noting that it is a mild reform aimed at “consolidating tax justice for the benefit of all citizens”.

As he characteristically notes “in the always welcome debate about the bill to tackle tax evasion, claims are sometimes made that lead to incorrect generalizations and wrong conclusions”.

And he mentions specifically, “without wanting to answer every example and counterexample, I would like to say a few words briefly about the examples that have seen the light of day in relation to jurists:

* The new system for determining input labor tries to deal with increased costs when we have high turnovers, but also low turnovers because they may indicate material concealment.

* Therefore, most cases in which the minimum wage is greater than the stated turnover should be those in which the turnover is low. In fact, from the data of the AADE, it appears that we have a higher taxable amount than the turnover when it exceeds the average of the KAD (ie Euro 21,131), in nine (9) cases! It should be noted that given that the average is over 21,000, the examples with increases due to turnover to the 15,000 that were released are not in touch with reality.

* Even these minimal cases, however, will be reviewed to see if they are justified or if improvements to the calculation methodology are needed.

* Under no circumstances are characterizations such as tax storm or other exaggerated and petty-political descriptions and expressions justified.

In any case regarding legal fees:

– the average tax burden from 27% of income falls to 21% from 2025. Even if the temporary tax is included the burden is 23% for 2024!

– 30% of lawyers will see an average tax reduction of Euro577.

– 12% will see no change in tax burden.

– 58% will see an average charge increase of Euro919.

– If we compare these figures with the general figures we presented at the press conference, the burden is rather milder.

Any honest criticism is welcome as long as it is based on facts.

From the beginning we made it clear that the aim of this Bill is to strengthen tax justice for the benefit of all citizens. In the same context, let’s continue to move, willing to listen and take into account every documented counterargument.