DUBLIN: The Greek government’s ability to tackle a deep-rooted culture of tax evasion is rapidly becoming a central issue in whether the country can remain in the euro.
If they can’t stamp out tax evasion and corruption, the likes of Germany will never believe they are doing their best.
Widespread tax evasion is thrown back at the Greeks every time they try to make a case in Europe about how difficult life there has been in the last seven years.
Everyone from barstool experts in pubs in Dublin, to the head of the IMF, Christine Lagarde, has pointed the finger at how little they appear to pay in tax. The situation is more complex.
Billions in unpaid tax is owed to the state. But 87pc of the tax is owed by just 15pc of the defaulters.Tough legislation in Greece has seen hundreds of people thrown in jail awaiting trial for tax evasion and corruption. High profile cases have included a former defence minister, a Sunday newspaper proprietor, a bank chief executive, a former mayor and other public figures.
The tough approach is not yielding big rewards. Tax receipts in January fell off a cliff – 20pc below projections. This followed a 14pc miss in December despite being broadly on target in the first 11 months of the year.
