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Greek Tax Cuts: Wait Till Next Year

Greece-tax-evasion-SDOEAfter showing a primary surplus, the Greek government is planning to implement tax cuts in 2015, but only if tax collections near 100 percent and tax evaders are reined in.
Greeks have been reeling under big pay cuts, tax hikes and slashed pensions for four years but Prime Minister Antonis Samaras, keen to fend off social unrest, has been promising them their lives will get better if they’re patient and trust him.
The planned tax cuts would reportedly be for salaried workers, pensioners, and for one of the country’s most notorious sectors of tax cheats, self-employed professionals. Failure to collect from them and force them to issue receipts for services could undermine the scheme, officials admitted.
Greece currently only collects about 75 percent at most of the taxes that due with tax evasion a national sport and with the rich especially getting away with it with impunity, hiding their money in secret foreign bank accounts.
The General Secretariat for Public Revenue aims to collect 6.9 billion euros from taxpayers this year but in order to hit that target – due to the inability to collect – authorities have imposed a goal of 9.17 billion. The 2.2 billion euros expected to elude tax collectors will be added to existing debts to the state that currently amount to around 66 billion euros.
Ministry officials said they won’t be able o gradually reduce tax rates unless they collect enough revenues, which they’ve never accomplished.
The new procedure, to be implemented from 2015, foresees the deduction of income tax from salaries or pensions on a monthly basis as opposed to the payment in full by taxpayers the year afteras is currently the case.

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