Arrears to Greek state expected to exceed 100 bln€ in 2017

An increase of arrears to the state continues unabated despite accelerated rates of confiscations and seizures of debtors' bank accounts, incomes and other assets in 2016 by the independent authority for public revenues.

Another 890 million euros were added to the total in November 2016, with the latter now reaching the stratospheric level of 94 billion euros, with the number of debtors -- legal entities and individuals -- exceeding 4.31 million.

During the same month court-ordered seizures in favor of the state exceeded 22,400.

The rate of increase of arrears points to the prospect of the total exceeding 100 billion euros in the first trimester of 2017, and reaching 60 percent of Greek GDP by the end of the year.

According to the latest figures issued by the independent authority -- itself the product of creditors' demands, as stipulated in the third bailout memorandum signed by the current government -- arrears involving back taxes now reach 54 percent of Greece's GDP, another figure that has shrunk by one quarter since the advent of the economic crisis in 2010.

2016 was a disappointing year in terms of overall increases in arrears to the state, with 12.628 billion euros added to the outstanding total over the first nine months of the year.

As "N" has previously reported, a large portion of arrears owed to the tax bureau includes fines imposed on thousands of businesses, self-employed professionals and individual taxpayers for submission of fabricated invoices and data, as well as practically every other infraction listed in the country's often capricious tax codes up until 2013.

In fact, fines, interest tacked on over the years to the arrears and other administrative fees constitute 31.5 billion euros of the total arrears.

Nevertheless, as "N" has previously cited, a good portion of the arrears date back decades, and are owed by thousands of legal entities now longer in operation or even tens of thousands of individuals no longer living.