A growing inability of taxpayers in Greece to meet rising tax rates was highlighted last week in an Alpha Bank analysis, with the Athens-based lender warning that this is a primary factor in the decrease witnessed in tax revenues for the current year.
According to the figures included in the analysis, individual taxpayers are increasingly unable to meet deadlines for paying income taxes in the country – raised as part of a 2016 “tax tsunami” unleashed by the current leftist-rightist coalition government – something attributed to the upward course of arrears owed to state – primarily to the tax bureau.
As of July 2017, arrears to the state – by individuals and legal entities – reached 97.4 billion euros, although the bulk of this sum has been accumulated over several decades and considered as non-collectable.
Although older arrears to the state are down by 1.9 billion euros since January to July 2017, on the back of stepped up audits, new arrears nevertheless mushroomed over the same period – from 1.6 billion euros in January 2016 to 7.5 billion euros in July 2017.
