Street markets an unknown quantity for authorities
The state claims ignorance about the precise numbers of producers and sellers active in street trading and especially at open-air markets (“laiki agora”). The picture regarding their earnings is even more unclear in what is a vital sector for primary sector producers and consumers alike.
The absence of clear figures for the numbers of people involved in the sector suffices to illustrate the extent of tax evasion at open-air markets, where receipts are often not issued at all.
The general secretary for Commerce and Consumer Protection, Antonis Papaderakis, admitted on Monday that the actual figures for people in the sector may well be above the 14,000 producer licenses issued in 2014 and the 11,000 permits for open-air traders approved in the same year.
The figures of the Independent Authority for Public Revenue put the sector’s turnover in 2014 at 246 million euros, although it was only professional sellers who declared their trading volume. Papaderakis conceded that market estimates indicate the actual turnover of open-air markets could be as high as 6 billion euros per annum.
