Overdue tax debts of Greeks to state soar by 11.8 bln euros in 2015
Xinhua, December 29, 2015 Adjust font size:
The overdue tax debts of recession-hit households and enterprises to the Greek state have soared by an additional 11.8 billion euros (12.9 billion U.S. dollars) during 2015, according to figures released by the finance ministry on Tuesday.
In November alone, the newly expired debts to the country's tax office increased by 1.5 billion euros, according to the statistics.
As of January 2015, the total overdue tax debt that was added to previous years amounted to around 70 billion euros, according to official data.
Tax authority officials estimate that only about 7 billion euros of that amount can be collected in the future.
State officials, financial analysts, and ordinary taxpayers in Athens attribute the increasing "revenue hole" to Greeks' inability to cope with the heavy tax burden after six years of deep recession and round after round of harsh austerity measures, local media has widely reported.
Society has reached a breaking point due to over-taxation combined with salary and pension cuts and high unemployment rates, experts warned. Endit