Press reports in Athens on Wednesday claimed the increasingly pressed Greek government is considering the option of raising the highest VAT rate even more, by one percentage point to 24 percent.
According to the Athens daily “Kathimerini”, the higher rate – which would be effective as of July 1 – aims to cover a fiscal deficit of 1 percent of GDP over the 2017-18 period; cover a shortfall from the exclusion of the private education sector from VAT rates on tuition, and thirdly, avoid a VAT hike on utility bills.
A top finance ministry source, according to the newspaper, claimed that a 1-percentage point increase in Greece’s already “salty” VAT rate will generate 400 to 500 million euros in annual revenues.
Consumers would face the “brunt” of the increase at super market checkout line, where the biggest portion of a local family’s budget – in terms of VAT-attached expenditures – is spent.
