ECONOMY

Amendment tabled on extension to VAT discount on eastern Aegean islands

Amendment tabled on extension to VAT discount on eastern Aegean islands

The islands of Lesvos, Chios, Samos and the Dodecanese (excluding Rhodes and Karpathos) will retain their special 30 percent discount on value-added tax rates for one more year, according to an amendment tabled by the government in Parliament on Monday.

The Finance Ministry estimates that the extension of the discount to the end of 2017 will cost next year’s budget some 50 million euros, but the text of the proposed amendment argues that the gap will be covered by other revenues.

The discount is being extended in an effort to compensate for the burden those islands have had to endure due to the arrival of tens of thousands of refugees.

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