By J. Kanoupakis
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The so-called "grey" or "black" economy in Greece, along with smuggling of certain highly taxed commodities, like fuels, remains a major problem, despite recent efforts by state services to combat the phenomena after many decades of neglect.
On the occasion of Friday's "Day of Greek Commerce", the leadership of the Hellenic Confederation of Commerce and Entrepreneurship (ESEE) said "prospective" losses reach as high as 17 to 20 billion euros for the "real economy". In terms of losses of tax revenues, the figure is 3.5 billion euros from lost VAT remittances alone.
The figures, according to the trade group, are cited in a recent study by the Organisation for European Economic Co-operation (OECD) and the European Union Intellectual Property Office.
