By T. Tsiros
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Business entities in Greece face the fifth highest tax rate on profits in the European Union, despite a recently Parliament voted reduction in the corporate rate, which eased by a sole percentage point to 28 percent, from 29 percent.
In taking office in January 2015, one of the first measures taken by Tsipras government was to increase the tax rates for businesses and companies from 26 percent to 29 percent.
In European setting, the average tax rate for businesses in the European Union is between 23 and 24 percent.
Nevertheless, despite being in the top levels of tax rates, Eurostat figures show that Greece is in 15th place in terms of the ratio of tax collection of legal entities compared with GDP.
At the same time, the absolute number of companies and businesses in Greece actually paying any tax on profits is relatively small. Out of roughly 251,000 tax statements by businesses and companies in Greece approximately 50,000 - one in five - comprise 90 percent of all collected revenue from this category. Based on the most recent figures, corporate and business tax revenues in Greece reach roughly 4.5 billion euros a year.
