Taxation and the witch-hunt against the self-employed – EU Commission answer

Brussels, 29 March 2024

EN
E-003571/2023
Answer given by Mr Gentiloni
on behalf of the European Commission
(29.3.2024)

Member States are free to design their direct tax systems, including how to determine the tax base and tax rates as well as appropriate incentives for taxpayers, as long as they respect primary and secondary EU law. Concerning the new tax regime for self-employed persons in Greece, the Commission understands that the new regime sets a deemed annual income for self-employed persons, but properly provides for a right of rebuttal.

Last year’s Eurobarometer survey¹ found that 80% of European citizens believe income inequality is too high and two thirds believe taxation has a role to play in redressing this. Rebalancing the different tax burdens could be part of the solution. The EU is leading the way in making the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)/G20 Global Tax Deal a reality. Indeed, the two-pillar solution represents an opportunity to put an end to the race to the bottom in corporate taxation and to ensure that large multinationals contribute their fair share to the societies in which they operate and prosper. It will also allow Member States to raise much needed resources, at a time when public budgets are strained and the need to invest in the social, green and digital transition more pressing than ever.

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1 Eurobarometer on Fairness, Inequality and Inter-Generational Mobility, Report 2652 / SP529, February 2023.

Source: Answer to a written question – Taxation and the witch-hunt against the self-employed – E-003571/2023(ASW)

© European Union, 2024 – EP