A package of measures worth a total of €2.2 billion, including tax relief, permanent income support and measures to reduce energy costs, is set out in a bill from the Ministry of National Economy and Finance being debated in parliament. Presenting the provisions to the plenary, Finance Minister Kyriakos Pierrakakis called it one of the biggest packages of measures announced at the Thessaloniki International Fair, saying the measures would affect almost every Greek household.
Immediate support measures include raising the annual payment to pensioners and vulnerable groups to €400, as well as reimbursing almost one million eligible recipients for one month’s rent. The bill also provides for tax relief for families with children and full-time farmers, a further reduction in social security contributions, and the reinstatement of a €500 Christmas bonus for public sector employees.
It also includes changes to the taxation of self-employed people, incentives for investment and long-term residential lettings, and measures affecting the property market through the new Property Ownership and Management Register. For energy, it allocates €400 million with the aim of cutting electricity bills by up to 30% over the next three years.
A separate measure is the creation of an Individual Investment Account for Minors, a so-called “savings pot” for every child, into which the state will match each euro saved, up to €1,200 a year. The minister said the measures could be funded thanks to economic growth, rising employment and efforts to tackle tax evasion, stressing that the aim was to boost incomes without adding to the fiscal burden and while maintaining fiscal stability.
The full speech by the Minister of National Economy and Finance follows:
“Ladies and gentlemen,
At the end of November, millions of citizens will see in practice what it means for economic progress to flow back to society.
2.2 million pensioners and fellow citizens from vulnerable social groups will receive the increased annual payment of €400. There are 270,000 more eligible recipients than last year.
Almost one million tenants, 70,000 more than last year, will also see a refund of one month’s rent in their accounts.
I want to start with these measures because they reflect the direction of our policy. They provide direct support to households and offer a concrete response to the pressure of rising prices.
What we are discussing today is objectively one of the biggest packages of economic measures announced at the Thessaloniki International Fair. The ability to move ahead with these measures has been earned through persistent and systematic effort. Since 2019, the Greek economy has changed course. That progress bears the mark of specific policy decisions: the reforms we have completed, the fiscal credibility we have restored and the trust we have won back under the government of Kyriakos Mitsotakis.
I am certainly the last person to claim that all the problems have been solved. We live in the same society. High prices remain a major problem. Housing costs are a strain. Wages need to rise further.
An economy can be doing better while citizens feel that life remains difficult. We have a duty to bridge that gap. That is the purpose of our economic policy.
With measures worth €2.2 billion for 2027, we are introducing extensive tax relief and providing permanent income support. From employees and pensioners to the self-employed, farmers and businesses, the changes in this bill will affect almost every Greek household.
And here I want to address a crucial question.
Where does this €2.2 billion come from?
I ask because I periodically hear the accusation that this money comes from overtaxing citizens. Let me start with the objective fact that this is a government that has cut or abolished 92 taxes and tax charges. And today it is bringing another major package of tax relief to parliament. So that argument does not stand up to scrutiny.
So let us look specifically at where the additional resources come from.
From economic growth, which is running at three times the average rate of the eurozone.
From rising employment. From the roughly 600,000 more of our fellow citizens who are working than in 2019, earning an income, spending and contributing to public revenues.
And from tackling tax evasion, which is now also generating about €2.2 billion in additional annual revenue.
I want to focus on this in particular.
For many years, there was a deep injustice in Greece. Some people paid for everyone, while others evaded their obligations. Employees could not hide their wages. Pensioners could not hide their pensions. Today, with digital cross-checks and targeted audits, we are changing that reality.
Tackling tax evasion is a major reform in tax justice. Every euro the state collects from tax evasion is a euro it does not need to ask compliant taxpayers to pay.
And of course, tax justice is only one part of our effort to ease the burden on citizens. The other is to reduce the costs that weigh on household budgets every day. Energy comes first. The €2.2 billion package includes €400 million for energy, using the special escape clause. The projects we will implement have a specific goal: to reduce electricity bills by up to 30% over the next three years. We are investing today to bring down energy costs in the years ahead.
Ladies and gentlemen,
In politics, it is easy to promise more. The hard part is being able to deliver. To cut taxes without creating new deficits. To raise incomes without undermining economic stability. To support society without borrowing.
And this is where a fundamental difference in political outlook lies.
It is very easy to announce benefits when you do not have to explain in detail who will pay for them. It is easy to promise more when you do not take responsibility for what comes next.
But genuine social policy is measured by the ability to deliver on what you promise and sustain it. Nothing undermines citizens’ trust more than giving them something today that you will be forced to take back tomorrow. As for us, the path we have chosen is one of responsibility.
And because this progress comes from the efforts of society as a whole, we have a duty to use it for society’s benefit.
So let us look at whom this policy affects.
It affects pensioners, for whom we are raising the permanent annual payment from €300 to €400 and expanding eligibility by scrapping income and asset tests for pensioners over the age of 65. Recipients will also include survivors’ pension beneficiaries, people with disabilities and uninsured elderly people.
It affects workers: from 1 April 2027, we will cut social security contributions by a further half a percentage point, with the full benefit going towards their take-home pay.
It affects public sector employees: from 2027, we will reinstate a €500 Christmas bonus, for the first time in 15 years.
And of course, I will not claim that €500 is a particularly large amount. We know very well the needs and difficulties faced by public sector workers. But it is a very meaningful step towards restoring what was lost, for teachers, doctors, nurses, firefighters and all those who serve the public every day. Above all, it is a start on which we want to build as the economy’s capacity grows, as we have already done.
The package of measures we are discussing today affects every Greek family.
We are setting the tax rate at zero for the first two income brackets, up to €20,000, for families with three children and full-time farmers, subject in each case to the stipulated conditions. The measure affects almost 87,000 families with three children and 47,000 farmers. To put that in figures: an employee with three children and a gross annual income of €30,000 could save €1,800 a year. A farmer with an income of €20,000 could save €1,540 a year.
At the same time, we are increasing the birth grant for families with many children to as much as €6,500 for a sixth child, with a further increase for each additional child.
Of course, and I think this is self-evident, no benefit on its own is enough to persuade a couple to have a child. But the state has a duty to reduce financial obstacles and provide families with greater security. This also builds on a tax reform launched last year, which for the first time changed the way people in this country are taxed, taking account of the family and how many children it has. I think this is something Greek society has generally embraced.
Ladies and gentlemen,
We are making a significant change in our approach to the self-employed.
For many years, the relationship between the state and the self-employed was marked by generalised suspicion. Unable to carry out effective checks, the state resorted to across-the-board assumptions and presumptive assessments. Today, the digitisation of transactions, myDATA and the connection of point-of-sale terminals to cash registers give us new capabilities and allow us to use actual data. The better the state can monitor, the less it needs to make assumptions. And the more effectively it tackles tax evasion, the more it should reward compliance.
That is why, for those who meet the stipulated requirements, we are removing increases to the minimum deemed income above the level of the minimum wage and the three-year seniority increments. Nine out of ten self-employed people meet the compliance criteria, I should add.
We are also cutting advance tax payments from 55% to 50% for the self-employed, and gradually from 80% to 50% for businesses. We will fully abolish the business levy for legal entities by 2029 and strengthen investment incentives by accelerating depreciation of machinery and equipment.
A sustained increase in incomes requires an economy that does what is obvious: produces more value. And this effort must reach every corner of Greece.
We are extending the ENFIA property tax exemption for primary residences in small settlements, with special provision for settlements of up to 2,200 residents in Western Macedonia; this will also be extended to regional units adjoining the country’s land borders. We are also introducing an annual incentive of €5,000 for eligible permanent residents and people settling in the Municipality of Megisti, with an additional €1,000 for each dependent minor child.
On housing, we are extending tax incentives to bring more homes back into long-term rental and increase the supply of available properties.
We are also making what I consider an important change to the management of real estate.
For many years, the state operated without knowing precisely who owned what, how each property was actually used, or whether the information declared matched reality.
The information was scattered across different registers, with inaccuracies, discrepancies and cases of properties not being declared as they should have been. We are now setting out to change this.
With the new Property Ownership and Management Register, the MIDΑ, we will for the first time be able to cross-check information in real time and identify discrepancies that have largely gone unnoticed until now.
And before it is introduced, we are giving property owners one final opportunity to declare accurate information about their properties and correct inaccuracies without fines.
I want to make another point here about the legislative drafting amendment we will table, and to be absolutely clear, because this issue affects millions of property owners. Those who declared their properties but whose records differed from the actual floor area will be able to correct their information now without fines for the discrepancies. As I said, the state was unable to cross-check this information for many years.
We cannot now pass on to citizens the cost of a failure that the state itself was responsible for over decades. Especially at a time when, as you all know, every euro counts for household budgets. But there is a distinction that must be reflected in the bill and the law we pass: declaring a property with a smaller floor area is not the same as concealing its existence altogether.
Those who did not declare their property at all will therefore pay the taxes due, because compliant citizens cannot be made to bear the burden of those who declared nothing. Banks and credit servicers will also be exempted from the article as a whole. And let me say that this is the last opportunity: citizens should declare their property details now. The state will allow past errors to be corrected, but from this point on, these rules will apply to everyone, with no exceptions, no further grace period and no asterisks.
Ladies and gentlemen,
I also want to highlight an initiative that I believe could be a significant turning point for the state as a whole, and one designed from the outset to last: an Individual Investment Account for Minors, a “savings pot” for every child.
I have heard the criticism that this is a measure for the rich. I want to answer that directly.
Since when should the opportunity for a child to build up capital of their own be a privilege reserved for families that already have wealth?
A well-off family, as we all know, can already save and invest for its children. It can fund their studies and support the first steps in their careers.
The question is what happens to children from families that do not have these means. Why should we accept that some young people start their lives with financial capital while others start from nothing?
This is the inequality we want to reduce. Equality of opportunity is at the heart of our policy.
The new account belongs exclusively to the child. The money is their property, protected from seizure for their parents’ debts and excluded from their parents’ bankruptcy estate. At 18, they can use it or continue investing it.
And the state will play an active part.
For every euro deposited, it will add another, up to €1,200 a year. There is no minimum contribution. Even a family saving €10 a month will see the state add another €10.
A grandparent, godparent, relative or even an employer can contribute to the account. In this way, we are drawing on something deeply rooted in Greek life: families’ efforts to give their children more than the previous generation had.
And now we are adding the strength of the state to that effort.
I want to be clear about this.
The “savings pot” is not another benefits policy. Families already receive support through the birth grant and child benefit, known as A21. Here we are changing our approach. Alongside meeting today’s needs, we are creating capital for tomorrow’s opportunities.
With supervised investment products, tax exemptions and four investment profiles, we are creating an organised framework for long-term saving. With the maximum contributions, this capital could be very substantial after 18 years and could exceed €93,000, based on an indicative scenario of an average annual return of 7%, with no guarantee of that return.
But the point goes beyond the calculations. Think of a child born today. They will turn 18 in 2044. No one knows what their family’s financial circumstances will be then. Life changes, circumstances change, opportunities change.
What we want is for that child to have more choices when they turn 18: about their studies, their work and their start in life. Their future should not be determined solely by their parents’ income.
Ladies and gentlemen,
A child born today knows nothing about our political disputes. They do not know who is in government and who is in opposition. They do not know what public debt or a primary surplus means.
But in 18 years, they will live with the consequences of the decisions we make today.
They will live in a country shaped by us, by our choices, our successes, our omissions and our mistakes.
And this may be the greatest responsibility of politics.
To be able to look the next generation in the eye and say that we did everything within our power to give them a better starting point.
The value of our decisions will be judged by the lives our children are able to lead: the opportunities they have, the dreams they can realise and the paths open to them.
And this will also reverse the historical legacy that shaped our generation, and my own: quite simply, we were handed the bill by the generation before us. That is our ambition. That is our responsibility.
And this is the policy we are pursuing with the bill we are asking you to vote for today.
Thank you”.