Canceling tax discount reduction will do little to diminish burden

The state budget would require a primary surplus overrun of 5.5-6 billion euros for income tax rates to be brought back to the levels last seen at the end of 2014.

The suspension of the reduction of the tax discount - as Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras promised earlier this month - would cost some 2 billion euros per year. Yet even if that happens another 30 tax measures will still remain in place, many of which concern indirect taxation, which is the same for all incomes and inhibits consumption.

The fact that the average Greek salary worker with two children suffers the third heaviest tax load in the world, according to the latest survey by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, or that Greece is among the three most expensive countries in which to buy gasoline in Europe, can be attributed to measures passed since 2015.

Besides the value...