By G. Kouros
Arrears to the Greek state continued to increase at a record-setting pace this year, reaching the stratospheric figure of 91.6 billion euros between the January-August 2016 period.
Although much of the figure is comprised of debts accumulated over previous years and even decades, this year’s "fresh" tax hikes and the still unabated recession have further decreased the tax-paying ability of households and SMEs in the country.
Based on official figures released by the relevant bureau at the finance ministry, which is responsible for public revenues, taxpayers in August 2016 left new arrears totaling 1.368 billion euros, which were added to the 8.986-billion-euro “gap” created over the first eight months of 2016.
The concern, on the part of the finance ministry’s leadership, is whether a 21-billion-euro revenue target over the last four months of the year will actually be met.
The last days of September are expected to show the rate of tax collection, as taxpayers must pay a second installment of an income tax for the previous year, as well as the first installment of 2016’s property tax, called ENFIA in its Greek-language acronym. The figure for September 2016 must reach 1.8 billion euros; 4.27 billion euros for by the end of October 2016 and 4.8 billion euros by the end of November 2016. Finally, total revenues in December 2016 must reach 7.4 billion euros.
