Tax debts to Greek state rise to more than 94 bln euros

More than half of the country’s taxpayers owe money to the cash-strapped Greek state, according to the Finance Ministry’s General Secretariat of Public Revenues.

Fresh data show that 4.3 million taxpayers have accrued debts in excess of 94 billion euros, prompting authorities to take collection measures (seizures of deposits and assets) against 826,211 taxpayers.

Old debts accrued prior to 2016 come to 81.6 billion euros, according to the figures. Of this, more than 8 billion is owed by state-owned businesses and municipal authorities, while some 12 billion is unredeemable as it is owed by private businesses that have declared bankruptcy.

Individuals and legal entities like businesses owe another 61.8 billion euros to the Greek state, according to the Finance Ministry, while some 157 million euros is the result of debts from companies issuing false receipts and invoices.

New debts accrued in the January-November 2016 period come to 12.6 billion euros, though the actual figure is much higher as this does not include debts from indirect taxes, fines, customs fees, etc.

In October alone, taxpayers failed to pay 890 million euros in taxes, while collection measures are expected to be taken against another 1.7 million taxpayers with debts to the state, the secretariat said.