Discrepancy between GDP, stated income
The recovery of pre-crisis levels in Greek GDP terms may now be within sight, but that is not the case for incomes declared to the tax office, which are 16 billion euros away from the historic high.
Notably, 78% of declared incomes come from salaries and pensions, while only 7.8% are declared by other-income earners and 1.8% by farmers. There is more income declared from dividends than from professional activity.
From 2025, the country’s nominal GDP will be moving to new record highs. The question is whether the return to normality will also concern incomes declared to the tax office. There remains a distance of more than 12-13 billion euros, as the last time Greek individuals cumulatively declared over €100 billion was in 2008.
Last year’s tax returns showed that declared incomes amounted to €84 billion, far less than what was declared in distant 2006. To recover the historic high (as in the GDP), that distance will have to be covered.
The point, of course, is not only to increase the declared incomes of employees and pensioners, but also to raise the tax burden on those who receive income from other sources.
