Every month brings 1 bln of new tax debts
It appears that an increasing number of people and businesses are not paying their taxes in Greece, as expired debts to the tax authorities created this year reached 5.2 billion euros at the end of last month, according to data published on Friday by the General Secretariat for Public Revenues.
That means that taxpayers and companies have failed to pay dues amounting to some 1 billion euros every month so far this year. In total, expired debts to the state, both old and new, added up to 77.8 billion euros at end-May. Most of the old debts have been deemed non-collectible, given that they are owed by bankrupt companies and taxpayers or state corporations.
In the first five months of the year the state collected just 571 million euros of newly created expired debts and 870 million of old ones, while just under 300 million euros was written off as non-collectible.
The Finance Ministry has warned that after June 26 – the deadline for submitting applications to settle debts in up to 100 tranches – the state will start confiscating properties and assets, stressing that there will be no extension granted for entry to the payment scheme.
