Greek freelancers: Window for a mini “facelift” in the new tax system

The government appears adamant on the implementation of the new imputed taxation system for freelancers, despite the reactions of the parties and professional organizations. However, at the Ministry of National Economy and Finance, they are leaving open a small window for improvements in relation to what was announced for the new tax regime for freelancers, without changing the philosophy of establishing a minimum presumptive taxable income and a minimum tax.

According to sources from the Ministry of Finance, if there are any changes, they will be decided after the completion of the public consultation and after considering the observations that will be submitted in the context of the dialogue. “At the moment we are not considering any improvements. We hold the dialogue, we listen to any comments and objections. Throughout the deliberative process, this government listens, but the purpose of the bill will not change. It is not enough to hear that we don’t like something, we must also hear the alternatives” states the Deputy Minister of National Economy and Finance Haris Theocharis.

The tax bill is expected to be submitted for public consultation in 10-15 days with the aim of its submission and vote by the Parliament within December before the new budget is passed.

Corrections

In the Ministry of National Economy and Finance they are writing the provisions for the new tax regime of freelancers with the information stating that corrections are being made in cases concerning:

– Businesses run by people over the age of 65 if these persons have been running the business or profession in the last decade.

– Businesses that suffered extensive damage up to total destruction from floods, fires, earthquakes during 2023, resulting in a forced shutdown.

– Retirees who, in order to supplement their income, continue to practice their profession.

Data from the processing of tax returns and comparative data with Europe reveal that the average employee pays more tax annually to the state than the 85% of freelancers who declare incomes purely from self-employment, while in Greece, the contribution of of freelancers to the budget is only 2.1% of revenues, while in the EU and the Eurozone it more than doubles and reaches 5.2% of revenues.

According to the statistical processing of the statements:

– 6.6 million taxpayers declared income of 84.2 billion euros last year with the total tax assessed at 8.899 billion euros.

– Of the 84.2 billion euros of declared income, employees declared 35.6 billion euros and pensioners an additional 25.4 billion euros. 60 billion of the 84 billion euros of total incomes are declared by employees and pensioners.

– Of the 8.9 billion euros of assessed taxes, 3.8 billion euros are for employees and 1.9 billion euros for pensioners. A total of €5.7 billion in taxes out of a total of €8.9 billion.

– Income declared by self-employed entrepreneurs amounted to €11.9 billion and taxes assessed €1.9 billion.

– Out of the 750,000 thousands of freelancers, approximately 500,000 thousands have incomes only from freelancing, while 250,000 have incomes from salaries / pensions as well. 54% of purely freelancers declare zero income, while 85% of them declare an annual income below 10 thousand euros. The average income tax that the state collects from this 85% of self-employed professionals – that is 425,000 e. professionals – is 217 euros per year, an amount that rises to 867 euros with the professional fee.

– 37% of the self-employed (272,000) pay zero income tax. Of these, 75,000 (10%) do not even pay the registration fee, so they have zero participation in direct tax revenue, and the remaining 197,000 (27% of the total) pay only the registration fee.

– 21,000 freelancers declare incomes lower than the Minimum Guaranteed Income limits (2,400 euros for a one-person household, 3,600 euros for a couple, etc.) and thus receive at least 200 euros per month through the Minimum Guaranteed Income.