ATHENS: Around one in four euros of the first INSTALLMENT of income tax has not been paid due to the significant drop in their net salaries as a result of increased taxation.
According to data from the Ministry of Finance, an estimated 272 million euros in taxes has yet to be paid.
This development has resulted in a tax revenue shortfall to the tune of 375 million euros, a development which is raising concern in the government’s economic team since, by the end of the year, taxpayers will be required to have paid around 21.4 billion euros in both direct and indirect taxes.
Shrinking household incomes may create problems in the implementation of the budget, something which came to attention in July 2016’s revenue data. This particular month is considered the most important in the collection of tax revenues.
Tightened expenditure has resulted in a seemingly positive budget profile for the first seven months of the year. The primary surplus stood at 3.55 billion euros compared to a surplus of 3.7 billion euros for the same time last year and against a target of 874 million euros.
According to data released on Friday by the Ministry of Finance, the drop in July revenue is mainly due to the following reductions:
