Luxury cars, high-speed yachts, apartments with swimming pools, dividends and around 1,500 tax ID numbers have been singled out by officials from Alexis Tsipras’s EL.AS. party as potential sources of new tax revenue, with estimates ranging from 600 million euros a year to as much as 4 billion euros.

The proposals come despite the former Greek prime minister’s repeated assurance that any new tax measures would not fall on ordinary citizens or the middle class.

Last April, speaking in Heraklion, Crete, Tsipras was asked where the money would come from for his proposed “patriotic tax”. He replied emphatically: “Not from citizens this time, not from the middle class this time.”

The tax debate inside EL.AS., however, has now widened from dividends to luxury assets, recreational boats, high-displacement cars and expensive properties.

The discussion began with comments by Antonis Saoulidis and Giorgos Balatsoukas, the party’s deputy press spokesman, who said EL.AS. was proposing an increase in the tax on dividends from 5% to 15%.

“Some 1,500 taxpayers declare 900,000 euros, and this income comes neither from business activity nor from salaried employment, but from dividends. At present, dividends are taxed separately at 5%, and we are proposing, based on our costings, to raise that rate from 5% to 15%,” Balatsoukas said.

Over the weekend, Haris Athanasiadis, a professor and EL.AS. official, also addressed the issue during an appearance on Mega Weekend, saying the party’s aim was to tax what he described as “ultra-luxury lifestyles”. According to his calculations, such a measure could bring in 600 million euros a year for the state.

“Yes, we will tax ultra-luxury lifestyles. In fact, we have calculated that we can raise 600 million euros a year from ultra-luxury lifestyles simply by taxing them,” Athanasiadis said.

Asked what he meant by “ultra-luxury lifestyles”, he replied: “Do you have a yacht and go on holiday on your own yacht? That is an ultra-luxury lifestyle. Do you own a 3,000cc car? We all know very well from daily life who lives at that level.”

Asked about dividends, Athanasiadis said: “Dividends have nothing to do with your salary or ours. The tax bracket is not the decisive issue for us. We will give greater tax relief to salaried workers, and we will tax dividends and real estate.”

Marizeta Antonopoulou, another EL.AS. official, took a similar line during an appearance on SKAI, the Greek television broadcaster, referring to the taxation of “consumer spending connected to an ultra-luxury lifestyle”.

“Our fellow citizens who live in ultra-luxury apartments, in a new hotel in Athens… Shouldn’t these people be taxed more?” she said.

Expanding on the party’s view of extreme wealth, Antonopoulou said: “We understand that a swimming pool is a sign of extreme wealth, and yachts that go very fast are a sign of excessive wealth.”

She also repeated the proposal to raise the dividend tax from 5% to 15%, although she said the increase should be introduced gradually and not “all at once”.

At the same time, attention is turning to the internal organisation of Tsipras’s new political project. Amalia is keeping a low profile as she finalises the lists of figures expected to be announced this week as department heads, along with those who will take part in the party’s new bodies. The announcements are expected on Saturday, June 27.