Stirring up tax breaks issue
Bank of Greece Governor Yannis Stournaras on Wednesday reiterated his call to the government to review the tax exemptions not only to increase tax revenues, but also to apply them with fair criteria to those who really need them.
Speaking at the OT Forum, he said some people misunderstood his recent report, stressing that “we should do a review. In other words, we will have to look again at the tax exemptions.”
“It is a very large amount, it is around 12 billion euros,” he continued. “Is this going to those who really need it? I am not saying that we should cut a single euro. But don’t we need to reallocate it to those who really are in need? In many other countries this is revised every three or four years. It doesn’t mean that just because you gave a tax break once, it has to stay forever.”
However, competent sources from the government retorted on Wednesday that there are no plans for reviewing these exemptions. A source claimed that “the vast part of the €12 billion is not cuts.” Therefore, there is no reason to stir up such a matter.
Stournaras has stirred the waters in general on tax revenues, raising the bar for tax evasion. He has argued that the illegal economy in Greece is around €40 billion, based on the Bank of Greece’s calculations.
