Man behind tax reform says, ‘Give it a chance’
The veteran academic whose committee made a series of proposals last week aimed at reforming Greece’s creaky tax system has watched a political storm erupt over the proposals, with even government ministers trying to distance themselves from them. In an interview with Sunday’s Kathimerini, Theodoros Georgakopoulos, chairman of the committee of experts and long-time dean of the Athens University of Economics and Business, argued that the proposed measures were just. Georgakopoulos said it would be better if critics read the proposals before judging them and argued that if the verdict was that the reforms were damaging to lower income groups, then there was something wrong with those judging them. «Are we really so ignorant in this country or do we simply like to indulge in populism and irresponsibility?» he asked. Among his proposals are that of raising the the tax-free income threshold, more simplified tax brackets and scrapping subsidies. PMCostas Simitis on Thursday stressed that the government would present its own proposals in May as the basis for talks with business and labor.
