Greece Should Write Off Billions of Overdue Taxes, Report Says
Greece should write off part of the 53 billion euros ($70 billion) of outstanding taxes owed to it as it will only be able to collect up to 20 percent of that amount, a report by the European Union and International Monetary Fund showed.
More focus is needed on collection from the 1,500 biggest debtors, which make up two-thirds of the total amount owed to the state, according to an e-mailed copy of the November report from the Athens-based finance ministry today. More staff should be allocated to auditing those cases and specific targets for 2013 should be set, it said.
Greece hasn’t met five of 10 six-month targets set as part of its tax system overhaul and stronger enforcement of value added tax collection as well as speeding up VAT returns should be a priority, according to the report.
The report is based on a visit to Athens by a technical EU and IMF team between Oct. 16 and Oct. 22.
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Natalie Weeks at nweeks2@bloomberg.net
Greece Should Write Off Billions of Overdue Taxes, Report Says
Angelos Tzortzinis/Bloomberg
More focus is needed on collection from the 1,500 biggest debtors, which make up two-thirds of the total amount owed to the state, according to an e-mailed copy of the November report from the Athens-based finance ministry today.
More focus is needed on collection from the 1,500 biggest debtors, which make up two-thirds of the total amount owed to the state, according to an e-mailed copy of the November report from the Athens-based finance ministry today. Photographer: Angelos Tzortzinis/Bloomberg
Rate this Page
Bloomberg moderates all comments. Comments that are abusive or off-topic will not be posted to the site. Excessively long comments may be moderated as well. Bloomberg cannot facilitate requests to remove comments or explain individual moderation decisions.