Athens Macedonian News Agency: News in English, 16-03-17
CONTENTS
[01] SEV says over-taxation threatens middle class in Greece
[01] SEV says over-taxation threatens middle class in Greece
Greek households' income (excluding benefits) totals 153.2 billion euros
and the declared tax income of households is around 74 billion euros
(with income tax revenue amounting to 8.7 billion euros or an 11.8 pct
tax rate) - figures showing that tax evasion is thriving in the country -
the Hellenic Federation of Enterprises (SEV) said in its weekly report
on economic developments in the country.
SEV warned of the danger of the collapse of the middle class because
of excessive taxation. "It is imperative to expand the tax base so
that wage-earners in middle income brackets stop being excessively
burdened, since this social class is essentially supporting the whole
social structure and its collapse cannot been ignored," the Federation
said in the report, adding that it was important to take into account
the repercussions of existing problems on dynamic enterprises creating
highly paid jobs at a time when the government is examining additional
burdens of wage workers.
"When the average citizen is discouraged in his effort to find a better
job, it is the middle class that's losing in the end. A consequent
collapse of social cohesion leads to economic stalemate and gradually to
political radicalism, further undermining the prosperity of the majority
of citizens," SEV said.
The report noted that higher taxes would lead either to a stronger black
economy or to migration of other productive sections of the middle class
and underlined the need for lower tax rates, reducing non-payroll costs,
offering tax incentives for private investments and adopting a full use
of electronic payments to combat tax evasion.
SEV said that currently four workers are paying taxes and contributions
to cover the payment of three pensioners and the needs for public health
services, education, justice, defense, etc. a model which apparently is
not sustainable.
Referring to a tax rate currently discussed with the institutions, SEV
said that a tax-free allowance was particularly high, not in size but
compared with the poverty limit.
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