Sources close to Greece's Ministry of National Economy and Finance rejected criticism from Fragkiskos Koutentakis, the economic policy chief of the Greek Left Alliance (ELAS), who had accused the government of turning the country into a tax haven for hedge funds.
The ministry sources said people and companies that were not previously present in Greece, investing, creating jobs or paying taxes there, are now starting to do exactly that.
They said the goal was to generate revenue where until now there had been none, strengthening public finances and creating room for lower taxes and more support for society.
The effort, they added, signals something bigger than tax collection: a new financial services ecosystem of new companies, well-paid jobs, Greeks returning home and international executives choosing to live, work and invest in Greece.
The sources said it was natural for officials to meet investors in London and elsewhere, calling this part of their job, and argued a serious opposition should want to do the same, since attracting investment, capital and people is a national matter, not a party one.
Ministry Rejects a "Patriotic Tax"
The ministry sources also said it was not possible to impose the "patriotic tax" envisioned by ELAS on wealth held on Wall Street or in the City of London, arguing that such wealth must first be brought to Greece before it can be taxed.
They said ELAS's only firsthand experience was with capital leaving Greece, an experience they said all Greeks had paid for dearly, and called on the party to help the effort rather than repeat past mistakes. They said the two sides should agree, even now, not to drive away what the government is working to bring into the country.
Koutentakis's Original Criticism
The exchange followed a statement Koutentakis had issued the previous day. He said that while the prime minister was committing, from the podium of the Thessaloniki International Fair, the annual trade event where the government traditionally sets out its economic policy, to raise taxation on bonuses over 60,000 euros paid to company executives from profit-sharing from 5% to 15%, and calling the change a matter of tax justice, a recent Financial Times report showed the other side of government policy: officials visiting hedge fund offices in London to promote Greek tax privileges.
Koutentakis said Vasilis Karatzas, an adviser to the finance minister, had spent months approaching hedge fund manager Chris Rokos as he considered where to move his tax residence, and that Finance Minister Kyriakos Pierrakakis had met Rokos just hours before the policy was announced. He said this was not a spontaneous vote of confidence in the Greek economy but an organized government campaign to attract the ultra-wealthy using low taxation as bait.
The Tax Regime for Fund Managers
Koutentakis said Law 5313/2026 created a special regime for hedge fund and private equity executives. Under Article 96, tax on carried interest, the share of a fund's profits paid to its managers, drops from 15% to 5% for seven years for those who move their tax residence to Greece. The provision is added to Article 5C of the Income Tax Code, which also exempts 50% of their employment income from tax.
He said the widely publicized 3 million euro threshold for entry to the regime does not require productive investment or extra tax payments, only that the Greek company employing the executive has matching annual expenses such as salaries, offices and operating costs. Under Article 97, he said, managing a foreign fund from Greece is not enough on its own to give that fund tax residence or a permanent establishment in the country, meaning the manager is taxed favorably while the fund's international activity stays outside Greek taxation.
Koutentakis called this special tax treatment for one of the wealthiest professional groups in the world, saying the government was buying tax residents by giving up tax equality rather than attracting production through better institutions and infrastructure.
Koutentakis Hits Back
Responding to the ministry sources, Koutentakis said they had unintentionally described the essence of a tax haven: special, extremely low rates for internationally mobile wealth that do not apply to other taxpayers.
He said moving Rokos's tax residence to Greece did not mean the 22 billion dollars his fund manages is transferred to or invested in the Greek economy, arguing that client capital under management is not the same as real investment. He said the government's argument that wealth must be brought to Greece before it can be taxed was misleading, because the tax has already been legislated away: a new tax resident pays a flat 100,000 euros a year on foreign income regardless of whether it totals one million or a hundred million, while newly arrived fund executives pay 5% on carried interest for seven years and have half their employment income exempted from tax.
Koutentakis said no one denies the need for new jobs and revenue, but a serious government would publish a cost-benefit study showing how many tax privileges are granted, how much capital is genuinely invested, how many permanent jobs are created and how much net revenue reaches the state. He said the ministry had instead offered slogans and revived fears from 2015.
He said what was at risk was not the Greek economy from taxing great wealth, but the government's business model of branding tax immunity for the powerful as national policy.
