The parliamentary representative of PaSoK, Michalis Katrinis, spoke of “deception” of self-employed professionals by the government, speaking in the Parliament during the discussion of the tax bill.
As he said, the government’s claim that it will enable 215,000 borrowers to rejoin the 72, 100 or 120 installment arrangements is unworkable, as they will all have to pay all the installments they left, with interest and surcharges, which is clear that they are unable to do.
With only 5.7% of debts settled, 46.5% of taxpayers in arrears, unpaid taxes reaching €6.3bn and additional overdue debts €7.3bn in 2023 and 500,000 confiscations to have been made in 2023 by the tax office, “the reality is set to be very bad for the majority of taxpayers”, emphasized Mr. Katrinis.
Faced with this reality, he reiterated the proposal of PaSoK for the possibility of arranging 120 installments for all debtors, with a 30% haircut if the arrangement is respected.
“The government cheated the freelancers”
“The government cheated 735,000 self-employed people on the issue of presumptive taxation, saying that anyone who does not want to be taxed can simply submit an audit request, but did not say that the taxpayer would normally have to pay the amount they will be charged before the audit is completed “, underlined the parliamentary representative of PaSoK.
Furthermore, he noted, “the government did not say that in order to achieve this the practitioner would have to be effectively audited, with the ability of the tax administration to do a retrospective audit! For anyone, therefore, thinking of challenging the imputed tax, the AADE circular is a complete deterrent and the government knew this very well but carefully concealed it when the professional tax bill was debated,” he added.
“The government chose a strategy of polarization and fear for the European elections”
At the same time, as Michalis Katrinis said, “the government does not tax the surplus profits of banks and energy companies, while the goals of AADE for the taxation of intra-group transactions decrease every year. From 35 million in 2021, to 30 in 2022, to 25 in 2023, while there has been no announcement for 2024. That is, discounts on multinationals’ controls and several million euros in lost revenue.”
The parliamentary representative called on the government to provide a legislative solution, as PaSoK has proposed, to the problem of Swiss franc borrowers who are at risk of losing their properties and proposed tax exemptions for professionals in small villages.
Finally, he referred to the political significance of the European elections in June, saying that “this gloomy picture leads the government to the strategy of polarization, fear and tension, so that we do not discuss accuracy, criminality, corruption, the abandonment of public health, the schemes in Tempe, the violation of the rules of the rule of law”.
“The country cannot move forward with political affiliations that produce frustration and despair in society. The overturning of today’s correlations goes through the strengthening of the PASoK and the democratic faction on June 9, so that a new, alternative and progressive governance plan can be formed”, concluded Michalis Katrinis.
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