Gray economy stays strong

Undeclared income and tax evasion stay among the main problems of the Greek economy, with the improvement remaining stronger successful the sectors dominated by self-employed professionals and freelancers. Despite caller progress, this trend remains considerable, undermining not lone state gross but besides the due cognition of the market.

According to this week’s Bank of Greece report, the volume of the grey system successful Greece ranges betwixt 20.9% and 21.6% of the country’s gross home product. This is importantly higher than the European Union mean (between 15% and 17%), while tax evasion is mostly identified successful the way galore freelancers and self-employed are paid: by currency and not declared to the taxman.

This extended amerciable enactment successful the system has aggregate consequences, the cardinal slope said. It undermines the credibility of institutions, creates conditions of unfair contention among enterprises and discourages investments, due to the fact that it is linked with accrued uncertainty and reduced transparency.

The study – noting the caller European fiscal rules – says the systematic and accordant purpose to combat tax evasion is peculiarly important for the authorities due to the fact that it contributes to the instauration of sustainable fiscal space without the request for imposing further tax burdens.

Such a structural betterment of nationalist finances allows for the adoption of targeted social- and growth-minded argumentation interventions, and to strengthen the ratio of economical governance, the BoG noted. The imperishable expansive measurement got adopted this year due to the fact that of those reasons, with an accent connected the simplification of tax load connected middle-income families with children, and young workers, bolstering κοινωνικά cohesion and economical activity.

The cardinal notes that a analyzable bid of interventions are required, which see expanding the use of integer tools, the interconnection of tax medication databases, tax system simplification, simplification of bureaucracy and of administrative costs for businesses, and much inspections.