Mass and organized popular defiance to the Head taxes

29/09/2011

Thousands of people participated yesterday in the demonstrations organized by the class-oriented trade unions in Athens, Thessalonica and other Greek cities against the new tax robbery which leads the people to bankruptcy. Workers, the unemployed, self-employed, students, pensioners rallied by their trade unions, popular committees in the neighbourhoods and the mass organizations carried out the organized refusal to pay the head taxes by burning the payment orders and demanded that those who created the crisis go bankrupt-the plutocracy and its representatives.

It should be noted that on Tuesday afternoon the new law for the property tax was passed in parliament while the government is pushing forward a new draft law on taxation to serve the plutocracy. Indeed, this tax will be incorporated into the electricity bill, with the threat that those that do not pay it will have their electricity cut. In addition, the new predatory measures included a reduction of the tax free threshold to 5000 euros- something which means that the tax threshold is 357 euros income per month, abolition of tax relief (e.g. rent expenses), VAT increases etc.

The Press Office of the CC of the KKE notes in its statement: “The uncontrolled bankruptcy of the popular family is a reality” and adds: “The governments tax rampage is one more piece of evidence that the anti-people offensive is not temporary and will escalate without an expiry date. The poor pensioners on 400 Euros per month are being called on to pay taxes, people who are trying to survive on incomes lower than the official poverty line. The workers must only possess the basics, simply to be able to turn up again at work. All the rest must be returned to the industrialists, the bankers, the ship-owners…

At the same time, the government, after the provocative reduction of the tax rates on the profits of big capital, is studying further cuts to its taxation. It has already announced special zones- tax heavens for big capital, where the taxation of profits will be reduced even further and there will be no collective bargaining agreements. This political line is the only way for the monopolies. The only way for the people is for the crisis to be paid for by big capital, which today contributes less than 2.8 billion euros of taxes annually, when the overall tax income is more than 50 billion euros. The ship-owners, banks and industrialists must be substantially and directly taxed.

The only duty the people have is to lift up their heads, to fight for their rights. Every conscious person from the popular strata has a responsibility to refuse to pay the unjust head taxes, to impede the implementation of the barbaric measures. To take part in the organised working class-people’s struggle in the workplace and popular neighbourhoods so that a strong popular alliance is formed of the workers, the self-employed in the city and countryside, of the youth, of the women, for the overthrow of the power of the monopolies, withdrawal from the EU with people’s power.”

The activity for the overthrow of the barbaric political line continues with the preparation of the strike in the public sector and former state enterprises on the 5/10 and the nationwide general strike on 19/10.

29/09/2011