By G. Paletsakis
A draft bill on legalizing undeclared incomes, expected to be submitted to Parliament in the coming period, does not include significant incentives for Greek citizens and taxpayers currently keeping capital out of the local tax bureau’s sight.
A group of top ministers that recently concluded negotiations with Greece’s institutional creditors over the specific issue reportedly agreed not to include such incentives. Previous reports claimed the leftist Greek government was examining discounts of between 20 to 80 percent on taxes owed for money disclosed to the tax bureau or repatriated to the country and deposited in closed savings accounts in Greek banks, or for the purchase shares traded on the Athens Stock Exchange or even used to buy Greek state bonds, amongst other Greece-based investments.
Property purchases were even considered at one time for luring undisclosed capital by Greek taxpayers back to the country.
In the end, both sides – the Greek government and its lenders – apparently agreed over legislation foreseeing tax rates of between 40 to 45 percent, and with additional increases based on the number of years from the period the income was generated until the time it was declared.
