Preparing Greece’s annual Thessaloniki Fair (DETH) economic package has become a delicate balancing act. Demand for support far exceeds the available fiscal space. While the government has started with an initial envelope of around €1 billion, it must decide by September which groups and measures will take priority.
Who Gets Relief — and When?
Businesses are calling for lower tax burdens. Self-employed professionals face mounting pressure from presumptive income rules and advance tax payments. Middle-income households are struggling with rising living costs. Pensioners await new forms of support. With limited resources, choosing among these groups remains politically and technically challenging.
The economic team is clear: the DETH package must signal broad-based relief — but without breaching fiscal limits. As a result, final decisions remain distant. Key factors — including revenue performance, spending trends, inflation developments, and international energy pressures through late summer — will determine how much room there is to expand the package.
Businesses at the Center
This year, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are at the heart of the discussion. The government aims for the DETH package to go beyond short-term handouts and instead deliver measurable, productivity-enhancing impact. One measure under active consideration is reducing the advance corporate income tax payment for both sole proprietorships and legal entities. This would ease immediate cash flow constraints for businesses — though it carries a fiscal cost and delays state revenues.
Another longstanding business demand on the table is abolishing the ‘profession tax’ — a flat levy imposed on legal entities regardless of profitability. Seen as an arbitrary burden, its removal is widely supported by the private sector — yet whether it fits within the final €1 billion remains uncertain.
Other Proposals Under Review
Reforms to the presumptive income system for freelancers and self-employed workers are also still open for discussion. So too is a possible reduction in the corporate tax rate — though each option entails different fiscal implications and political trade-offs, making the final selection even more difficult.
At the same time, the government stresses that DETH should not serve only businesses. Minister Kyriakos Pierrakakis has described the package as one where pensioners, public and private sector employees, freelancers, and farmers all see themselves reflected. That inclusivity, however, multiplies competing claims — further complicating the allocation of the €1 billion.
Large-scale, across-the-board benefits — such as reinstating the 13th or 14th salary for public employees or pensions — appear off the table. Officials note that reintroducing just the 13th salary and 13th pension would cost roughly €4 billion; adding the 14th versions would push the total close to €8 billion — well beyond the current framework.