SYRIZA-PS submits a request for a roll call vote on four articles of the bill to limit tax evasion.

SYRIZA’s parliamentary representative, Nikos Pappas, informed the national delegation that his party is submitting a request for a roll-call vote in article 7 of the bill “Fines for violations of the issuing of retail information by a tax Electronic Mechanism”, “because the provision states that from now on the fines will be imposed per control and not per violation”. SYRIZA also requests a roll-call vote in article 15 for the introduction of self-employed imputed income, in article 49 for the “reduction of capital accumulation tax rate”, and article 50 for the “reduction of the sales tax rate of listed shares”.

Especially for articles 49 and 50, Mr. Pappas said that they are provisions that the government decided to bring to help people who make money from the Stock Market.

Late yesterday, PASOK also filed a request for a roll call vote on the principle of the bill and on articles 15, 49 and 50. The request for a roll-call vote for articles 49 and 50 was submitted by PASOK on the grounds that the government, at the same time as it “exterminates” freelancers, “reserves tax reductions for large companies”. The General Accounting Office of the State estimates that the annual loss of revenue from the “reduction of the capital accumulation tax rate” and the “reduction of the tax rate on the sale of listed shares” will be approximately 43 million euros.

The government says the bill delivers justice and promotes a fairer tax system that will help curb tax evasion and increase public revenue. He articulates the belief that the measures are supported by society and also by the majority of self-employed professionals.

The deputy finance minister, Nikos Papathanasis, said yesterday that the result of the implementation of the bill will be that approximately 17% of professionals will pay a tax of 1,000 euros, while 54% will pay a tax of 3,000 euros.

The Deputy Minister of Finance, Haris Theocharis, stated that this bill recovers 3 billion from the total of the measures it introduces. “From the freelancers we expect to collect only 500 million”, explained Mr. Theoharis.

The government has pledged that the 3 billion euros recovered will be directed to health and education.

A while ago the parliamentary representative of SYRIZA went up to the floor of the Plenary and responded to the criticisms made by members of the governing majority that, during the days of SYRIZA, excessive taxation took place. “I want to congratulate you on the 20-year record in tax collection – 29% as a percentage of GDP, 43% including social security contributions – so your argument that tax revenue is due to growth rates is rubbish. Households know this when olive oil has increased by 85% and fruit by 40%. VAT collections have also increased by 40%, from 2021,” Mr. Pappas emphasized, addressing the seats of New Democracy, and added: “You have set a record for tax collections. We are not against taxation, we are with fair taxation. But you don’t tax small and medium-sized businesses to save the budget. You come and tax them to save the Pissarides plan. This plan that they consider pathogenic, that it is the root of the evil spirit of Greek society. This is the truth. Another link in this chain is taxation, as was the bill for bad loans.”

The SYRIZA parliamentary representative also referred to the banks. “For you, of course, this is pathogenicity, the number of self-employed people. The 7.5 billion that are bank profits in 2022 and 2023? And are we hearing the executives of Ethniki say that they will buy back shares and take them as a bonus? Do you think it is reasonable in this situation to share money? The worst of the regulations is how you link them to the minimum wage to turn small and medium-sized entrepreneurs into levers of wage compression,” underlined Mr. Pappas.