Eleventh austerity package (Greece)

Eleventh austerity package - August 2015 measures
Hellenic Republic
Ratification of the Financial Assistance Draft Contract by the ESM and provisions for the implementation of the Financing Agreement (Law 4336/2015)
Territorial extent	Greece
Enacted by	Hellenic Parliament
Date passed	14 August 2015 (For: 222; Against: 64; 11 abstentions)
Legislative history
Bill published on	13 August 2015
Introduced by	Government of Greece
First reading	13 August 2015
Second reading	13 August 2015
Third reading	14 August 2015
Committee report	Joint Report of the Committees of Finances, Social Affairs, Production and Trade, Public Administration and Justice
Amendments
'Amendment 232/26 On public pensions Amendement 233/27 Judicial procedures, Arrangements for over-indebted citizens
Status: In force

The eleventh austerity package was voted by the Greek Parliament as part of the agreement between the Tsipras Government and the 'quartet' of creditors (the IMF, ECB, ESM and EU) for a third loan to Greece. The law contains two parts, the first being the text of the loan agreement and the second containing the measures agreed to secure the first tranche of the new loan.

It was tabled by the government on 13 August 2015 and was approved by parliament on 14 August 2015 with 222 votes for and 64 against.^[1] It included provisions about Greek economic policy during the three next years. The bill's title was Ratification of the Financial Assistance Draft Contract by the ESM and provisions for the implementation of the Financing Agreement.^[2]

Vote in Parliament

The Government tabled the Bill containing the measures and the loan agreement in the afternoon of August 13 and requested that it be discussed under the extremely urgent Parliamentary procedure. The bill passed the committees on August 13 and was discussed in the plenary session between 2 am and 10 am of August 14. At 6 am, the MPs decided by vote to shorten the discussion, thus the vote was held earlier than envisioned by the Standing Orders regarding extremely urgent procedures, at 10 am.

Measures

The measures passed by this bill were the following:^[3]

• Diesel fuel tax for farmers going from 6 euros per 1,000 liters to 200 euros/1,000 liters from October 1, 2015, and to 330 euros by October 1, 2016.
• Farmers’ income tax to be paid in advance will rise from 27.5 percent to 55 percent.
• Income tax for farmers is set to rise from 13 to 20 percent for 2016 and to 26 percent for 2017.
• Freelancers will be subject to a gradual increase from 55 to 75 percent in advanced tax payments for income earned in 2015, increasing to 100 percent in 2016. The 2 percent tax break for single payments on income tax is also being abolished from January 1, 2015.
• Private education, previously untaxed, will be taxed at 23 percent, including the tutoring schools (frontistiria), but excluding preschools.
• Reduced value-added tax rates for islands are to be abolished completely by the end of 2016, with enforcement staggered across three groups of islands from October 1, 2015 to January 1, 2017.
• Interest on expired debts to the state that are payable in 100 installments is to rise from 3 percent to 5 percent on amounts over 5,000 euros. Amounts below 5,000 euros are not subject to interest provided they meet certain conditions.
• Greece’s shipping industry will also be subject to new tax rises. Among other measures, tonnage tax is to increase by 4 percent annually between 2016 and 2020. A special contribution by foreign cargo carriers will remain in place until 2019.

See also

• First austerity package (Greece)
• Second austerity package (Greece)
• Third austerity package (Greece)
• Fourth austerity package (Greece)
• Fifth austerity package (Greece)
• Sixth austerity package (Greece)
• Seventh austerity package (Greece)
• Eighth austerity package (Greece)
• Ninth austerity package (Greece)
• Tenth austerity package (Greece)
• Twelfth austerity package (Greece)
• Thirteenth austerity package (Greece)

References