The officials at the General Accounting Office are concerned about the dwindling revenue and sharp increase of outstanding debts towards the State, despite the significant cuts and measures.
The reduction in revenue is attributed to the delayed mail out of notices for the real estate tax of previous years, the consecutive deadline extensions that have been granted and the deep recession dominating the market.
The deficit from real estate taxes alone is over 300 million euros and this must be covered by the end of the year. The Ministry of Finances will be sending out invoices one after the other in the summer and realize that it will be hard for taxpayers to pay in full. Since January outstanding debts have increased by about 3 billion euros, with 800 million of outstanding debts generated in May alone.
The 48-hour strike of tax services will likely affect the picture of June revenue, since most payments are made at the end of the month. The Ministry of Finances’ announcement to extend the deadline for tax returns, thus postponing many tax obligations for the last months of the year, will make collecting taxes even harder.
The overall affect will be to tarnish the good impression made during the first five months of the year, ahead of the fresh series of troika negotiations that are to begin next week.
