Theoni Koufonikolakou, the press spokesperson for the Greek Left Coalition, said the so-called patriotic contribution unveiled by Alexis Tsipras during his speech in Thessaloniki would affect only the wealthiest one percent of Greeks and would sit outside the party's already-costed spending plans.
Speaking to Greek broadcaster SKAI, Koufonikolakou said the measure had not been factored into the fiscal space the party intends to draw on to fund its programme. She said it was extra, on top of those figures.
She said that for reasons of fiscal seriousness, and given that Greece has not yet compiled a wealth registry, the measure marked a starting point for transparency and fairer taxation. She called the absence of such a registry particularly unfortunate, noting that all modern states rely on one to do their work.
Alexis Tsipras and the Greek Left Coalition
Tsipras served as prime minister of Greece from 2015 to 2019 as leader of the leftist Syriza party before founding the Greek Left Coalition, under which he delivered the Thessaloniki speech that introduced the patriotic contribution proposal.
Koufonikolakou said the contribution would be a permanent measure, applying a 1% tax rate to the wealth of the richest 1%. She said the party had no issue with profitability, which she called necessary for the country, but objected to excess and greed. She described the measure as one of reciprocity concerning individuals rather than companies.
Debate is about the registry, not the rate
Koufonikolakou insisted the real issue in the debate was not the 1% tax rate but the creation of a registry to record wealth in the first place. She said the discussion concerned what a single, unified registry of movable and immovable property would capture, clarifying that movable assets meant bonds and shares.
She defined "rich" as very high income earners, judged against the 1% threshold. She said detailed figures would be released later by the party's economy affairs coordinator, and repeated that the measure covered only the wealthiest 1% of the population and no one beyond that.
