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Mitsotakis to make tax cuts a top priority

Mitsotakis to make tax cuts a top priority

New Democracy leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis promised in an interview televised on Friday night a range of tax cuts, including a 30 percent reduction in the ENFIA property tax in the first two years of coming to power.

Speaking to Skai TV ahead of his appearance at the Thessaloniki International Fair on September 17 and 18, when he is due to outline his policy proposals in the northern city, Mitsotakis highlighted some of his main ideas.

Citing the example in 2013 of the then government, led by conservative Prime Minister Antonis Samaras, going against the institutions’ wishes and reducing value-added tax in the food service sector from 23 to 13 percent, the current ND leader insisted that tax cuts could pay off.

Mitsotakis said the move by Samaras was effective and identified property tax as one of the main levies he would target at the start of his premiership should he win the next general elections.

The opposition leader suggested he could reduce public spending by up to 800 million euros and if Greece could reduce its primary surplus targets for the coming years from 3.5 percent of gross domestic product to 2 percent, this would free some 3 billion euros to be used for tax cuts and strengthening the guaranteed minimum income.

The conservative chief also said that his party has prepared a plan to tackle tax evasion by widening the use of electronic transactions.

Mitsotakis indicated that he is aiming to attract the support of centrist and center-left voters in his bid to gain power.

“We have room for moderate liberal centrists, we have room for those who define themselves as being center-left but who are completely exasperated with the government’s policy and are looking for a way out,” he said.

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