Parliament: Bill passed on multinational taxation

With an increased majority the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Finance for the ‘Incorporation of the Directive (EU) was voted in principle and at second reading in the Committee on Economic Affairs. Council Regulation (EC) No 2022/2523 of 15 December 2022, on ensuring a global minimum level of taxation for multinational groups and large-scale domestic groups in the European Union (Pillar II) and other customs and tax provisions’. The bill is expected to be introduced into Parliament’s plenary for discussion and voting next week. “For” the draft law in principle, at its second reading in the Commission, they took ND, Syriza, PASOK-KINAL and New Left. He voted against the KKE while Greek Solution, “Spartians”, “Victory” and Free Freedom were reserved to be placed in plenary. “The discussion of the main part of the bill in the Commission shows that there is an initial agreement from all of us that this has positive provisions and we should move on to the incorporation of the Directive,” said Deputy Minister of National Economy and Finance Harry Theocharis at the conclusion of the bill to the Commission. In response to questions of a technical nature raised in the debate, Mr Theocharis clarified that there is sufficient time, one year, for companies and AADE to prepare. For the implementation, the technical aspects of the implementation of the provisions of the bill, said that the preparation of the systems of the ADE, “are important issues we do not underestimate but we monitor them and we do not leave things to their fate.” The Deputy Minister also rejected the criticism that “we are granting tax control to international organisations such as the OECD” saying that we are co-configurers through negotiations that have been made to establish this framework that favours Greece as we are not a tax haven and we will eventually find ourselves victorious. This Directive, stressed by Mr Theocharis, is a voluntary agreement with a coherent version of this, and the countries that adopt it have exceeded 137. Theocharis, commenting on Syriza’s tax proposals, observed among other things that “the tax advance brings an income of 4.2 billion euros rather than 1.8 billion euros costed by your proposal. Also, I don’t know what you are questioning from the reduction in VAT rates that are EUR 2.4 billion or the rest you say.” Regarding Syriza’s proposal for dividends, the Deputy Minister said “this will be the incentive for large groups to leave Greece in particular and to go to other countries, because intra-group taxation does not exist so they will choose a country with less taxation on dividends.” Asked about the failures of the 2023 export forecasts recorded by ELSTAT, Mr Theocharis said that “if you follow the analysis of ELSTAT this reduction is explained by the destruction of Thessaly”. “It is obvious that this disaster had a very large impact on a number of productive and investment indicators (investments, stocks, exports, imports, etc.). This fall in individual indicators is strongly recorded at the end of the third and fourth quarter of the year, after the destruction in Thessaly,” he noted and added: “But we should not overlook that 4% is double GDP growth, so investment plays a very strong role in GDP growth … Therefore, the result is rather positive for investment. Moreover, let us not forget that much of these investments and rates are affected by the Recovery Fund, where to record this multiplier of the investments created requires some time, so any part lost in 2023 will come and be recorded in 2024.”