Subject: Athens Macedonian News Agency: News in English, 17-04-11 From: "HR-Net News Distribution Manager" CONTENTS [01] Tsipras inaugurates Corinth-Patras motorway [02] Papadimoulis' statement on Brexit is a pleasant message for the British people, UK ambassador Smith says [03] Wage tax burden up in Greece, OECD report --------------------------------------------------------------------------- [01] Tsipras inaugurates Corinth-Patras motorway "We are opening roads. We are opening the road that was hindering the connection of Western Greece with the capital, we are opening the road to exit the crisis and supervision," Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras on Tuesday said during the inauguration of Corinth-Patras motorway. This is the strong symbolism of the inauguration, said the prime minister and noted that Tuesday is a day of joy for Western Greece and the message sent is that Greece can stand back on its feet. [02] Papadimoulis' statement on Brexit is a pleasant message for the British people, UK ambassador Smith says European Parliament Vice President Dimitris Papadimoulis' statement on Brexit is a pleasant message for the British people, UK ambassador to Athens Kate Smith posted on Twitter. Papadimoulis earlier said: "Greek people are not big on English tea and don't particularly love beans on toast, but I guarantee you, every Greek child knows Harry Potter and Premiere League? Most appreciated. Syriza believes in the EU and we disagree with the United Kingdom leaving a United Europe. We hold that Brexit was a sad day for our union. Let's face it though, Greece and Britain have a relationship. We know you've shared our history, liked our sun and sand and enjoy a couple of drinks in our taverns. There are 11 thousand Greek students in the UK not to mention many more workers and Greece is one of the favourite destinations for the English, Scottish, Irish, Cornish and Welsh to holiday or retire. We need to do whatever it takes to secure the rights of British people living in Greece as well as the rights of Greeks living in Britain. We disagree with the result of your referendum, but we still respect it. Why? Because it's in our blood, culture and political DNA to respect democratic choices. And I can assure you that Greeks will continue to show their hospitality, to the British as if they never left the Union. In short, Brits, you're welcome in Greece!" [03] Wage tax burden up in Greece, OECD report Total tax burden of unmarried wage earners with an average income from income tax and social contributions paid by both workers and employers, grew by 1.06 percentage points in 2016 compared with 2015 to 40.2 pct of total employer's labour cost, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) said in its Taxing Wages 2015-2016 report released on Tuesday. OECD member-states recorded an average decline of 0.07 percentage point to 36 pct, with Belgium (54 pct), Germany (49.4 pct), Hungary (48.2 pct) and France (48.1 pct) recording the highest rates of taxation in this category, while Chile (7.0 pct), New Zealand (17.9 pct) and Mexico (20.1 pct) the lowest rates. An increase in tax burden in Greece was the result of an increase in income tax (0.67 percentage point), higher social contributions of workers (0.20 percentage point) and employers (0.19 percentage point). The burden, however, mainly represents employers and workers contributions (19.9 pct and 12.6 pct, respectively), while income tax accounted for 7.7 pct. For families with two children, with only one parent working, total tax burden grew by 0.73 percentage point in 2016 to 38.3 pct of labour cost for employers. In the OECD, the average burden of same families eased slightly (0.08 percentage point) to 26.6 pct. Tax burden of unmarried wage earners with an average income from income tax and social contributions paid by themselves was 25.4 pct of gross earnings in 2016, slightly lower from the OECD average of 25.5 pct.