The opinion that the government “played” the freelancers was expressed by the president of SYRIZA-PS, Stefanos Kasselakisduring his intervention at her press conference Coordinating Committee of Independent Professionals-Scientists-Professionals-Traders on the litigation over the new tax law.

As he said, “before the elections, Mr. Mitsotakis said that there was no way to increase taxation” and “after the elections” came the new tax law for the self-employed, freelancers, individual businesses “without substantial consultation with the agencies”.

Mr. Kasselakis referred to the Pissarides report and also to the ND program, noting that at that time they did not write “that they would beat you down until the end”.

“This is the proof of political deception”, he stressed, adding that the government’s issue is not “fiscal” but aims to “save the Pissarides plan”, which considers the self-employed “a pathogen, the root of the evil demon of the low productivity of the Greek economy”. economy”.

“Their main argument is that 71% of the self-employed report an income below that of the employed. At the same time, however, 65% of businesses report losses or zero profits. There, however, no horizontal taxation is foreseen”, added the president of SYRIZA-PS, pointing out that “with incredible aggression against the self-employed they are trying to establish the argument that you are all caught tax evaders”.

He argued in favor of the view that with this law “tax evasion will increase”, because “low income earners will be forced up to the threshold and high income earners will go down to the threshold and be done with it”.

“In this fight we are on your side”, he added, while characterizing the law in addition to “unconstitutional” and “anachronistic”, “both in relation to the current national tax system and the guiding principles of all international organizations, which say that taxation should be based on real incomes and not on imputed incomes that lack scientific substantiation”.

Mr. Kasselakis also referred to the connection of taxation and, specifically, the presumptions with the employee’s salary, underlining that the goal is to “turn them into levers of salary compression”.

“The government’s strategy is disastrous for the Greek economy. Another path is needed, which starts from a fair regulation of the debt with a critical, important role of the Development Bank, with a stable tax system that will have a progressive tax rate for businesses as well”, he noted. He also referred to SYRIZA’s proposals for “fair taxation”, which include, among other things, reductions in rates for incomes up to 100,000 euros and increases for incomes over 200,000 euros, reductions in contributions for employer and employee within the first three years, abolition of advance payment tax and reduction of the rent tax rate.

“The new tax for self-employed professionals, self-employed and sole proprietorships is the ND’s big blow to the middle class”, stressed the president of SYRIZA-PS and accused the government of “trying to go to the elections with the lights off on the obligations of the natural and legal entities”.