By G. Palaitsakis
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The Independent Authority for Public Assets is reportedly reconsidering the level of arrears to the state considered as uncollectable, as the current figure of 18 billion euros – out of roughly 100 billion euros owed to the tax bureau and pension funds – is judged as low.
Speaking on Wednesday at a tax forum organized by the American-Hellenic Chamber of Commerce, the authority’s director, Giorgios Pitsilis, said that out of 104.35 billion euros of total arrears, 86 is judged as “collectible” under the current legal framework.
“We need to re-examine the legal framework, so that (Greece’s) tax administration doesn’t have in its register of major debtors companies like Piraiki-Patraiki, which hasn’t existed for decades … If someone has past arrears, we need to restrict, with every institutional transparency, those that possibly cannot be collected,” he said.
