Spending dwarfs stated income

The total declared income of all taxpayers for the year 2021 amounted to 79 billion euros, based on the data of the Independent Public Revenue Authority (AADE).

Based on the Hellenic Statistical Authority’s (ELSTAT) household budget survey conducted on a sample of approximately 6,000 households, the annual expenditure on only 12 basic categories of households amounts to just under €70 billion. That means almost all of the declared income is spent on food, alcoholic beverages, clothing, housing, durable goods, health, transportation, communication, recreation, education, restaurants and “miscellaneous” goods.

There is another, more extended record of household expenditure by Eurostat, which puts the annual expenditure of Greek taxpayers at €129 billion.

All three figures – the €79 billion of AADE, the €69 billion of ELSTAT and the €129 billion of Eurostat – refer to the same year: 2021. These are clear indications Greeks spend more than they declare. This vindicates the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, which in yet another report on Greece has called for measures to “broaden the tax base.”