Taxpayers failed to pay 2 bln in July

The figure of 2 billion euros in unpaid taxes in July alone, shown the Independent Authority for Public Revenue, is a sharp illustration of the fatigue gripping tax-paying individuals and businesses in Greece.

The slump in tax payments has brought expired debts to the state since the start of the year from 5.475 billion euros by end-June to 7.483 billion by end-July.

IAPR officials explain that the debts of three enterprises that went bankrupt expanded the expired debts in July; they say that 700 million euros of debts concern those three companies that happened to have gone bankrupt in July, while the remaining 1.3 billion concerns unpaid taxes.

If this nightmarish picture continues into the rest of the year, the hole in budget revenues will grow considerably, having already come to 700 million euros in the first seven months of 2017.

What concerns the government most is whether the taxpayers who failed to pay in July enter the Finance Ministry’s 12-installment payment plan. Otherwise – if they refrain from paying their taxes, for example – state coffers will find themselves in serious trouble after the addition of 172,704 taxpayers who added their names to those who defaulted on their obligations in July.