Just a fraction of debts to state may be paid
No more than an eighth of the sum of the expired debts to tax authorities can be collected, as the Independent Authority for Public Revenue considers just 11.4 billion of the 92 billion euros of taxpayers’ arrears to be collectible, with the greatest chance of collection being from small debtors.
Finance Ministry officials say that the smaller the debt, the greater the chances are that it will be collected, in contrast to very large debts, whose payment is considered impossible. The latter mostly originate from old corporate fines, state corporations and guarantees called.
Consequently, the 0.1 percent of debtors owing more than 1.5 million euros each have dropped off the IAPR radar. They are 5,551 taxpayers and corporations who account for 76 percent of total debts to the tax authorities, or some 72 billion euros. There are even 69 state debtors who owe more than 100 million euros each that IAPR admits it is unlikely to collect.
The tax collection mechanism is now focusing on the 2,388,899 taxpayers and corporations who owe a minimum of 500 euros each, who together make up more than half of all state debtors.
