Low-paid freelancers keep ceiling
Economy Minister Giorgos Alogoskoufis promised yesterday that his planned changes in the tax legislation will not affect freelancers who earn less than 10,500 euros per year. Speaking in Parliament on the first day of the bill’s reading, Alogoskoufis said that he will add to the draft law that workers who are not on a regular salary but work for one employer can have the same status as salary-workers. Therefore they will still have a tax ceiling of 10,500 euros. He also made it clear that freelancers with three or more children will maintain their untaxed status. There is also a significant change ahead in road taxes. Alogoskoufis announced that from next year the amount of tax paid for every vehicle will not only depend on its engine’s size in cubic centimeters, but also on its emissions. The ministry will also propose certain incentives for the withdrawal of the vehicles that cause more pollution. Answering a question from a government deputy, Alogoskoufis further revealed that within the next few days his ministry will table a new bill concerning the banking sector, the borrowers’ register (Teiresias) and auctions. Answering criticism from the opposition about his new measures, Alogoskoufis said that the tax burden for Greeks is the smallest one in the European Union and that he and the government remain loyal to low tax brackets given that everyone pays his taxes.
