Tax cuts will throw lifeline to enterprises

Hundreds of thousands of self-employed professionals and one-person businesses are eager for new tax rates to kick in and ease some of the pressure they have been under over the past few years.

Taxpayers who have managed to increase their income as a result of hard work have seen between 70 and 75 percent of that go to the state. The money left over was so little they often had to dip into whatever savings they may have put aside in order to make ends meet.

Now, according to a top Finance Ministry official, the changes that will be made on tax rates, as well as the upcoming reduction of the social security contributions, will reduce the proportion of income that goes to the tax authorities and pension funds to between 55 and 60 percent over the next couple of years.

As things stand, a self-employed professional with a taxable income of 198,000 euros per year...