Debts to state expanded on false hopes

Expectations for a new debt arrangement scheme, the exhaustion of the Greeks’ taxpaying capacity and unpaid fines have sent taxpayers’ overdue debts to 2.9 billion euros in the first four months of the year, with 2.73 billion of that being unpaid taxes.

Finance Ministry officials attribute the high amount of dues amassed in the January-April period to hopes that the new settlement program with up to 120 installments would have also included 2019 debts, although that was never the case.

According to the figures released by the tax administration, the sum of the old and new expired debts to the state amounted to 104.3 billion euros at end-April, of which 18.4 billion are considered impossible to collect.

Just under 4 million individuals and businesses have debts to the state, with the debtors that may face forced collection measures numbering 1.82 million. Already 1.25 million debtors have seen their salaries or bank deposits confiscated.