The country’s current standing regarding public debt, taxation, and digitalisation, as well as the traditional practice of extending the deadline for tax submissions in advance, were discussed with Haris Theoharis, Deputy Minister of Finance.
A journalist addressed the minister with the question why Greece lags behind in investments when compared to the EU. The Deputy Minister attributed it to the decade-long crisis, hindering entrepreneurial opportunities due to economic instability stating that Greeks had faced financial difficulties, and negative perceptions deterred foreign investment. However, the country has recently seen a 40% increase in investments, outperforming Europe. Despite growth in other sectors, real estate investments do lag behind, leading to rising prices and interest rates due to housing investment deficits.
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Digitalisation of taxation and road taxes
When asked about the digitalisation of taxation Mr. Theoharis affirmed that digitalisation taxation has effectively combated tax evasion, citing a rise in the primary surplus to 1.86% from the targeted 1.15%. This success, mainly on the revenue side, resulted from initiatives like POS, and my-data. He estimated a gain of over 2 billion per year from these efforts, which would benefit the welfare state and potentially lower tax rates. Additionally, regarding road taxes, he proposed a gradual increase starting January aiming to eliminate the need for extensions and alleviate pressure on taxpayers when not paying on time in that the fine will not be big for a delay of a few days.
Tax declarations
Mr. Theoharis underlined the importance of fulfilling obligations regarding tax declarations, highlighting the state’s responsibility to meet deadlines. Due to upgrades in tax declaration systems the deputy minister of finance emphasised the importance of trust and compliance to deadlines.