Euro hits 11-year low after Syriza victory in Greece
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Greece gets lifeline as ECB agrees €3.3bn extra emergency funds
Total funding on offer now €68.3bn as Greek banks come close to using €65bn of liquidity funds granted by European Central Bank
Greece’s prime minister, Alexis Tsipras, right and finance minister Yianis Varoufakis said they were confident the government’s plan would be approved. Photograph: Louisa Gouliamaki/AFP/Getty Images
Jennifer Rankin in Brussels, Graeme Wearden, and Helena Smith in Athens
Thursday 19 February 2015 07.36 AEST Last modified on Thursday 19 February 2015 11.06 AEST
The embattled Greek government has been thrown a lifeline by the European Central Bank after the ECB agreed to €3.3bn more emergency funds for the country’s banks.
The move came as the US warned Greece that it had to be constructive and find a deal, and Athens confirmed that it will seek an extension to its rescue loans on Thursday.
The US Treasury secretary Jack Lew told the Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis in a phone call that Greece would face “immediate hardship” without an agreement and said the current deadlock was not good for Europe, despite signs that a compromise might be reached ahead of Friday’s deadline. “Time is of the essence,” Lew said.
The Greek government has promised to submit a request for a loan extension to officials in Brussels, but leaked documents showed that Varoufakis will not give up on plans to repeal austerity measures such as public sector job cuts.
Despite insistence from Brussels that Greece had to stick to cost cuts outlined under its bailout plan, Varoufakis said on Wednesday night he was confident his government’s proposed extension would be approved. “I believe the proposal will satisfy the Greek side and the Eurogroup president,” he said.
The clock is ticking down to a eurozone-imposed deadline of Friday to reach an agreement, before Greece’s €240bn bailout – brokered by the ECB, the EU and the IMF – expires at the end of the month.
But with Greece and the eurozone having failed twice in five days to bridge their differences, the Fitch credit ratings agency warned that “continued brinkmanship” could do lasting damage to the Greek economy. Analysts at Fitch said they were ready to lower their 2015 forecast for economic growth in Greece, having already cut it by one percentage point last month to 1.5%.
After a further day of fevered briefing and statements, the ECB decided to extend its emergency funding for Greek banks by €3.3bn, taking the total funding on offer to €68.3bn. Greek banks are close to using up the €65bn emergency liquidity funds the ECB has already granted them. This had fuelled speculation that the bank’s policymakers could turn off the taps to force Greece to compromise with the eurozone.
The bank’s governing council was split on whether to extend the credit lifeline for Greece. But one eurozone central bank official told Reuters that the ECB had to try to preserve financial stability and was not there “to teach Greece some kind of lesson”.
Candidate elected
In another boost for Greece’s Syriza-led coalition, the government succeeded in getting its candidate elected as president. Prokopis Pavlopoulos, a former interior minister on the centre-right, was elected by MPs to take up the largely ceremonial post.
Alexis Tsipras, the prime minister, picked Pavlopoulos as a unity candidate and his election means Syriza has managed to avoid the problem that toppled the previous government. After the former prime minister Antonis Samaras failed to win approval for his candidate, Greece was forced into the early elections that brought Syriza to power.
The political win will allow the Greek government to focus its energy on persuading its eurozone partners to accept its loan proposal.
Athens wants to resurrect a compromise plan proposed by the European commissioner, Pierre Moscovici, which was vetoed by eurozone finance ministers at an acrimonious meeting on Monday.
The Moscovici plan would allow Greece access to short-term loans, but would not bind Athens to extending the current austerity programme, which the Greek government blames for a humanitarian crisis.
Greece is pressing for a rewrite of its bailout agreement that would allow it to run a 1.5% budget surplus, rather than the current target of 4.5% it has signed up to, freeing up money for social spending. It also wants guarantees it will not have to introduce pension cuts or VAT hikes, as well as a slower pace of privatisation.
With talks between eurozone leaders expected to resume on Friday, the European commission delivered an uncompromising message that Greece would have to stick to an austerity course.
“The most realistic way forward is the extension of the current programme,” Valdis Dombrovskis, vice-president of the commission, told reporters in Brussels. Greece would be offered some flexibility, he said, but only by swapping some austerity measures for others of equal value.
Fury from far left
In Athens, the far-left anti-capitalist Antarsia party reacted with fury to the government’s decision to request an extension of its loan agreement.
Under the headline “It is time to break away from the European Union”, Antarsia (which is to the left of Syriza and has strong representation on Adedy, Greece’s powerful trade union of civil servants) blasted the euro group and the Syriza-led government for its handling of the Greek crisis.
“What has happened has proved yet again that the EU is the most reactionary, undemocratic and authoritarian construct in Europe after Nazism,” it said.
“We have a Greek government that in reality accepts the overwhelming debt and the immediate obligations that derive from this, commits itself to pulling off a primary surplus (that is to say austerity), has asked for an extension of the current loan agreement and declared that it accepts 70% of the memorandum.”
Even if the government pulled off its ultimate goal of coming up with a bridging agreement in the months ahead, the party said that it would amount to kicking the can down the road.
“The same problems will crop up again with the same result of austerity,” the ultra-leftists said.
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/feb/18/greece-lifeline-ecb-agrees-extra-emergency-funds
superunknown23
Superstar
The concept of declaring/paying taxes is nonexistent in many parts of the world (especially in Africa)... Greece is one of those countries
so all Greeks do is stay at home? Who feeds them? Who runs the super markets and restaurants?
c'mon breh
100% unemployment. What do they do?
Still, all them social benefits was just financially unstable.
88m3
Fast Money & Foreign Objects
There's Something Suspicious About the 'New' Euro Note
Since when does currency show people fleeing buildings in terror?
Stefanos
Things have not progressed well for Greece since its former debt-straddled government took a second bailout in 2012. The country still owes some €317 billion to its creditors—an amount that "might as well be a million bajillion euros" given the likelihood it'll be paid back, writes the Washington Post—and unemployment is at a shockingly high 25 percent.
Greece's leaders are in thorny talks this week to renegotiate the bailout before it expires at the end of the month. If a suitable deal isn't struck, some are speculating the dead-broke government will be forced to leave the euro zone. With such uncertainty in the air, and social unrest in the streets, it's no wonder that migrants who came to Greece for work now want to get the hell out of Dodge.
Those who actually have money might have noticed this doom and gloom reflected in the E.U.'s physical currency. A handful of euro notes have circulated depicting ominous events like people fleeing buildings, hanging themselves, and writing bloody-looking graffiti that reads, "THE END IS NIGH." Playing off the typical euro note's blandly interesting and politically approved historical architecture, this altered money strikes right to the heart of the crisis.
The bills are the work of shadowy artist Stefanos, whose project, "Euro Banknote Bombing," is spreading Greek strife all over Europe like a wallet-dwelling virus. Since 2014, Stefanos has drawn on euros and then spent them, an act he hopes conveys the "economic and social instability in Greece" to consumers. He explains more about the project:
observing the euro banknote landscapes one notices a lack of any reality, whatsoever for the last five years the crumbling greek economy has hatched violence and social decay—so, I decided to fuse these two things. through hacking the banknotes I'm using a european [document] that is in cross-border circulation, including greece—thus, the medium allows me to 'bomb' public property from the comfort of my home.
Here's a selection of Stefanos' altered cash; some of the ones on his website get more graphic:
Stefanos
http://www.citylab.com/design/2015/...out-the-new-euro-note/385633/?utm_source=SFFB
Since when does currency show people fleeing buildings in terror?
- JOHN METCALFE
- @citycalfe
- 7:50 AM ET
- 3 Comments
Stefanos
Things have not progressed well for Greece since its former debt-straddled government took a second bailout in 2012. The country still owes some €317 billion to its creditors—an amount that "might as well be a million bajillion euros" given the likelihood it'll be paid back, writes the Washington Post—and unemployment is at a shockingly high 25 percent.
Greece's leaders are in thorny talks this week to renegotiate the bailout before it expires at the end of the month. If a suitable deal isn't struck, some are speculating the dead-broke government will be forced to leave the euro zone. With such uncertainty in the air, and social unrest in the streets, it's no wonder that migrants who came to Greece for work now want to get the hell out of Dodge.
Those who actually have money might have noticed this doom and gloom reflected in the E.U.'s physical currency. A handful of euro notes have circulated depicting ominous events like people fleeing buildings, hanging themselves, and writing bloody-looking graffiti that reads, "THE END IS NIGH." Playing off the typical euro note's blandly interesting and politically approved historical architecture, this altered money strikes right to the heart of the crisis.
The bills are the work of shadowy artist Stefanos, whose project, "Euro Banknote Bombing," is spreading Greek strife all over Europe like a wallet-dwelling virus. Since 2014, Stefanos has drawn on euros and then spent them, an act he hopes conveys the "economic and social instability in Greece" to consumers. He explains more about the project:
observing the euro banknote landscapes one notices a lack of any reality, whatsoever for the last five years the crumbling greek economy has hatched violence and social decay—so, I decided to fuse these two things. through hacking the banknotes I'm using a european [document] that is in cross-border circulation, including greece—thus, the medium allows me to 'bomb' public property from the comfort of my home.
Here's a selection of Stefanos' altered cash; some of the ones on his website get more graphic:
Stefanos
http://www.citylab.com/design/2015/...out-the-new-euro-note/385633/?utm_source=SFFB
11 million people owe $350bn 
nikkas have been KILLED for way less
nikkas have been KILLED for way less
http://www.theguardian.com/business...-last-ditch-talks-to-avert-greece-cash-crunch
Eurozone chiefs strike deal to extend Greek bailout for four months
Greece steps back from exit and pledges not to roll back austerity as frantic diplomacy in Brussels secures four-month lifeline
Greek finance minister, Yanis Varoufakis, after the emergency meeting at the European Union finance ministers meeting in Brussels. Ministers agreed a deal to extend the Greek bailout for four months. Photograph: Virginia Mayo/AP
Jennifer Rankin in Brussels and Helena Smith in Athens
Saturday 21 February 2015 08.23 AEDT Last modified on Saturday 21 February 2015 12.15 AEDT
Comments
798
Greece has stepped back from the prospect of a disorderly eurozone exit after reaching a last-ditch deal to resolve the impasse over its €240bn (£177bn) bailout. The outline agreement between Athens and its creditors in the single currency bloc to extend Greece’s rescue loans should help ease concerns that it was heading for the exit door from the euro.
In return, the country’s leftwing government has pledged not to roll back austerity measures attached to the rescue, and must submit, before the end of Monday, a list of reforms that it plans to make.
The chairman of the eurozone finance chiefs’ group, Jeroen Dijsselbloem, said Athens had given its “unequivocal commitment to honour their financial obligations” to creditors. He said that the agreement was a “first step in this process of rebuilding trust” between Greece and its eurozone partners which would provide a strategy to get the country back on track.
A senior Greek government official welcomed the agreement, saying it gave Athens time to negotiate a new deal. “Greece has turned a page,” the official added.
Greece’s finance minister, Yanis Varoufakis, claimed victory, insisting there was “no substantive difference” between the deal and a Greek compromise text that had been dismissed by Germany’s finance ministry as a Trojan horse for Athens to throw off austerity. “We are going to write our own script on the reforms that need to be enacted,” he said
But the Greek prime minister, Alexis Tsipras, will almost certainly face fierce reaction over the deal, both from hardliners in his radical left Syriza party and from the populist rightwing Anel – his junior partner in the governing coalition – for agreeing to continue with austerity measures as part of the deal, given that he was elected on an anti-austerity programme.
“Very heavy concessions have been made, politically poisonous concessions for the government,” Pavlos Tzimas, the veteran political commentator, told SKAI news.
The make-or-break talks began more than three hours late, delayed because of last-ditch preparatory talks involving the German finance minister, Wolfgang Schäuble, and his Greek counterpart, Varoufakis. This discussion yielded a fresh compromise to extend Greece’s loan agreement for four months, buying time for further negotiations on Greece’s vast debts, which stand at 175% of its economic output.
The agreement to stave off an imminent cash crunch in Greece was achieved despite a backdrop of fractious public exchanges between European politicians and the newly elected Syriza government in Athens.
The accord sets Greece a deadline of Monday to send a letter to the 19-nation group listing all the policy measures it plans to take during the remainder of the bailout period, to ensure they comply with the conditions and receive vital funds. But if ministers reject the next round of reforms, which have to be agreed by the end of April, “we are in trouble” said Varoufakis.
If the three institutions overseeing the bailout – the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund – are satisfied after an initial view, eurozone member states will ratify the extension. The ongoing role of the troika – now renamed the institutions – represents a climbdown for Tsipras and Varoufakis, who had pledged to cease dealing with troika inspectors.
Another concession is that Greece will remain constrained by the budget targets agreed with its eurozone partners. Although it can ease austerity, it will have to find another way of arriving at the same budget target.
“The only commitment that we took today is that whatever measure we take will not affect fiscal stability,” Varoufakis said.
Despite the restrictions, Varoufakis promised Syriza would not go ahead with pension cuts and VAT hikes that the previous Conservative government had planned. Instead of these austerity measures, Syriza plans to meet its budget targets with a crackdown on tax evasion – although Varoufakis admitted he had “no idea” how much this would add to government coffers: “If I gave you a number I would be lying.”
However, Schäuble, one of the toughest critics of the Greek government’s negotiating stance, indicated that Syriza will have to back austerity measures that it had vowed to repeal. “The Greeks certainly will have a difficult time explaining the deal to their voters,” he said.
The Irish finance minister, Michael Noonan, also voiced caution about the prospects of success, telling reporters: “It’s an important first step that we hope will lead to a successful second step on Monday night or Tuesday morning, but then of course there’s a third step with ratifications in parliament.”
Without a deal, Greece faced the prospect of quickly running out of cash because it is effectively locked out of the international lending markets. Its banking system, on life support from the ECB, is losing deposits at a rate of about €2bn a week. A €1bn shortfall in revenues for January – caused by some Greeks delaying tax payments in the runup to the election – has added to the strain on government finances.
The Syriza party, which swept to power in January with a promise to end Greece’s humanitarian crisis, is pressing to lift the austerity measures imposed by eurozone creditors in exchange for the bailout.
Syriza had been campaigning for a bridging loan to ride out immediate funding concerns, while it renegotiates the bailout terms. But the rest of the eurozone was opposed to a new loan deal unless Greece pledges to continue the austerity programme – which has included privatisations and public sector job cuts. Last night’s deal indicated that tough limits on public spending will have to remain.
“Greece has folded this hand, but the game of poker continues,” Raoul Ruparel of Open Europe said.
US stocks closed at record highs last night after the deal between Greece and its creditors in the eurozone. The Dow Jones industrial average closed up more than 150 points, its first record close for 2015. The S&P 500 ended the week at its third record close for the year
88m3
Fast Money & Foreign Objects
Greece Struggles to Get Citizens to Pay Their Taxes
Tax Collection Is a Top Priority of Reform Plan From Athens
ENLARGE
A Greek flag hangs over a sign at a state tax office on a narrow street in Athens on Monday. PHOTO: ASSOCIATED PRESS
By
MATTHEW KARNITSCHNIG And
NEKTARIA STAMOULI
Updated Feb. 25, 2015 1:25 p.m. ET
135 COMMENTS
ATHENS—Of all the challenges Greece has faced in recent years, prodding its citizens to pay their taxes has been one of the most difficult.
At the end of 2014, Greeks owed their government about €76 billion ($86 billion) in unpaid taxes accrued over decades; the government says only €9 billion of that can be recovered, with most of the rest lost to insolvency.
Billions more in taxes are owed on never-reported revenue from Greece’s vast underground economy, which was estimated before the crisis to equal more than a quarter of the country’s gross domestic product.
RELATED
ENLARGE
The International Monetary Fund and Greece’s other creditors have argued for years that the country’s debt crisis could be largely resolved if the government just cracked down on tax evasion. Tax debts in Greece equal about 90% of annual tax revenue, the highest shortfall among industrialized nations, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.
Greece’s new government, scrambling to secure another tranche of short-term funding, agreed on Tuesday to make tax collection a top priority on a long list of measures. Yet previous governments have made similar promises, only to fall short.
Tax rates in Greece are broadly in line with those elsewhere in Europe. But Greeks have a widespread aversion to paying what they owe the state, an attitude often blamed on a combination of cultural and historical forces. During the country’s centurieslong occupation by the Ottomans, avoiding taxes was a sign of patriotism. Today, that distrust is focused on the government, which many Greeks see as corrupt, inefficient and unreliable.
“Greeks consider taxes as theft,” said Aristides Hatzis, an associate professor of law and economics at the University of Athens. “Normally taxes are considered the price you have to pay for a just state, but this is not accepted by the Greek mentality.”
ENLARGE
Indeed, for most Greeks tax evasion isn’t considered a serious crime and there is little stigma attached to getting caught, unlike in other European countries or even the U.S.
Much of Greece’s tax evasion occurs in the small transactions of daily life.
A 32-year-old chef in Athens says his income taxes are automatically deducted from monthly paychecks. But every time he buys something and is given an option to pay less if he doesn’t ask for a receipt, he says yes.
“It is a win-win situation,” he said. “I pay less for the products and the store pays less in taxes.”
Greeks’ innate resistance to taxation is one reason Syriza, the leftist party now in power, campaigned against the tax increases championed by the previous government in the run-up to elections. The party went so far as to embrace a grass-roots antitax movement called “I won’t pay.”
The country’s previous government introduced a controversial new property tax, for example. It led to a sevenfold increase from 2009 levels in collection last year, to €3.5 billion. But Syriza and other critics assailed the tax as unfair and many Greeks stopped paying it late last year at the end of 2014, partly in anticipation that the new government would change it.
The government’s tax-revenue shortfall in January alone was 23% below its €4.5 billion target for the month.
Last week, the government outlined plans to forgive up to 50% of individuals’ tax arrears, a sign would make good on its campaign rhetoric.
Syriza would risk a popular uprising by the very people who put it into power if it were to back away from those policies and get tough on taxes, political analysts warn.
Even within the government’s own ranks, officials say Syriza can’t risk tougher enforcement.
The reason isn’t just political, but economic. The country’s depression has already pushed many small businesses to the brink of collapse. Forcing them to pay more in taxes would put even more out of business—and more Greeks out of work.
“The Greek economy would collapse if the government were to force these people to pay taxes,” said one senior government official.
Though Greece’s rich have often been singled out for not paying their due, the vast majority of tax evasion occurs at the lower end of the income scale, among small and medium-size enterprises, government officials say.
“Most small companies know they will never be audited so they don’t bother to pay taxes,” said a European official sent to help Athens overhaul its tax system.
Many companies report they pay their workers the minimum wage but supplement it under the table to avoid higher payroll taxes.
The owner of a small hotel outside Athens, says she as much as doubles her three employees’ pay during the busy summer months. The arrangement benefits everyone, she says, because her employees get more money and neither side has to pay more in taxes.
“If I had to pay them even more the whole year, I would have to fire one of them,” she said.
Other companies give workers store or restaurant credits in lieu of cash.
A 28-year-old saleswoman says her company gives employees special coupons they can cash in supermarkets, restaurants and for other services.
“It works much better for us because the money isn’t taxed,” she said.
http://www.wsj.com/articles/greece-struggles-to-get-citizens-to-pay-their-taxes-1424867495?mod=e2fb
f'ck is wrong with these people?
Tax Collection Is a Top Priority of Reform Plan From Athens
A Greek flag hangs over a sign at a state tax office on a narrow street in Athens on Monday. PHOTO: ASSOCIATED PRESS
By
MATTHEW KARNITSCHNIG And
NEKTARIA STAMOULI
Updated Feb. 25, 2015 1:25 p.m. ET
135 COMMENTS
ATHENS—Of all the challenges Greece has faced in recent years, prodding its citizens to pay their taxes has been one of the most difficult.
At the end of 2014, Greeks owed their government about €76 billion ($86 billion) in unpaid taxes accrued over decades; the government says only €9 billion of that can be recovered, with most of the rest lost to insolvency.
Billions more in taxes are owed on never-reported revenue from Greece’s vast underground economy, which was estimated before the crisis to equal more than a quarter of the country’s gross domestic product.
RELATED
ENLARGEThe International Monetary Fund and Greece’s other creditors have argued for years that the country’s debt crisis could be largely resolved if the government just cracked down on tax evasion. Tax debts in Greece equal about 90% of annual tax revenue, the highest shortfall among industrialized nations, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.
Greece’s new government, scrambling to secure another tranche of short-term funding, agreed on Tuesday to make tax collection a top priority on a long list of measures. Yet previous governments have made similar promises, only to fall short.
Tax rates in Greece are broadly in line with those elsewhere in Europe. But Greeks have a widespread aversion to paying what they owe the state, an attitude often blamed on a combination of cultural and historical forces. During the country’s centurieslong occupation by the Ottomans, avoiding taxes was a sign of patriotism. Today, that distrust is focused on the government, which many Greeks see as corrupt, inefficient and unreliable.
“Greeks consider taxes as theft,” said Aristides Hatzis, an associate professor of law and economics at the University of Athens. “Normally taxes are considered the price you have to pay for a just state, but this is not accepted by the Greek mentality.”
Indeed, for most Greeks tax evasion isn’t considered a serious crime and there is little stigma attached to getting caught, unlike in other European countries or even the U.S.
Much of Greece’s tax evasion occurs in the small transactions of daily life.
A 32-year-old chef in Athens says his income taxes are automatically deducted from monthly paychecks. But every time he buys something and is given an option to pay less if he doesn’t ask for a receipt, he says yes.
“It is a win-win situation,” he said. “I pay less for the products and the store pays less in taxes.”
Greeks’ innate resistance to taxation is one reason Syriza, the leftist party now in power, campaigned against the tax increases championed by the previous government in the run-up to elections. The party went so far as to embrace a grass-roots antitax movement called “I won’t pay.”
The country’s previous government introduced a controversial new property tax, for example. It led to a sevenfold increase from 2009 levels in collection last year, to €3.5 billion. But Syriza and other critics assailed the tax as unfair and many Greeks stopped paying it late last year at the end of 2014, partly in anticipation that the new government would change it.
The government’s tax-revenue shortfall in January alone was 23% below its €4.5 billion target for the month.
Last week, the government outlined plans to forgive up to 50% of individuals’ tax arrears, a sign would make good on its campaign rhetoric.
Syriza would risk a popular uprising by the very people who put it into power if it were to back away from those policies and get tough on taxes, political analysts warn.
Even within the government’s own ranks, officials say Syriza can’t risk tougher enforcement.
The reason isn’t just political, but economic. The country’s depression has already pushed many small businesses to the brink of collapse. Forcing them to pay more in taxes would put even more out of business—and more Greeks out of work.
“The Greek economy would collapse if the government were to force these people to pay taxes,” said one senior government official.
Though Greece’s rich have often been singled out for not paying their due, the vast majority of tax evasion occurs at the lower end of the income scale, among small and medium-size enterprises, government officials say.
“Most small companies know they will never be audited so they don’t bother to pay taxes,” said a European official sent to help Athens overhaul its tax system.
Many companies report they pay their workers the minimum wage but supplement it under the table to avoid higher payroll taxes.
The owner of a small hotel outside Athens, says she as much as doubles her three employees’ pay during the busy summer months. The arrangement benefits everyone, she says, because her employees get more money and neither side has to pay more in taxes.
“If I had to pay them even more the whole year, I would have to fire one of them,” she said.
Other companies give workers store or restaurant credits in lieu of cash.
A 28-year-old saleswoman says her company gives employees special coupons they can cash in supermarkets, restaurants and for other services.
“It works much better for us because the money isn’t taxed,” she said.
http://www.wsj.com/articles/greece-struggles-to-get-citizens-to-pay-their-taxes-1424867495?mod=e2fb
f'ck is wrong with these people?
88m3
Fast Money & Foreign Objects
7 March 2015 Last updated at 08:23 ET
Greece 'eyes tourists as amateur tax inspectors'
COMMENTS (152)
Will Greek tax-dodgers have to beware of holidaymakers bearing cameras?
Continue reading the main story
Greek bailout
The Greek government could hire "non-professional" tax inspectors, including tourists, to spy on tax evaders, according to a leaked document.
Students and housewives could also be used as part of the reported scheme to tackle fraud, which could include hidden cameras and recording devices.
It is said to be one of the ideas Greece will raise at a meeting of eurozone finance ministers on Monday.
It needs to convince them it is serious about reform to receive further credit.
Eurozone leaders want to extend help on Greece's €240bn (£176bn; $272bn) bailout until the end of June in return for commitments to further reform.
The leaked document, a letter reportedly sent by Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis to Eurogroup president Jeroen Dijsselbloem, was seen by the Financial Times newspaper and AFP news agency.
The letter is attributed to Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis
"The culture of tax avoidance runs deep within Greek society," the letter reportedly says.
"Tax authorities are not only understaffed but immersed in the logic of book-checking when the real problem lies off the books."
Informal tax inspectors would be hired on a "strictly short-term casual basis - no longer than two months and without any prospect of being rehired".
Mr Varoufakis is quoted as saying that the very news that there were thousands of casual onlookers carrying spying equipment on behalf of the tax authorities could shift attitudes quickly.
The amateur inspectors would be able to go to places traditional tax inspectors would be wary of visiting such as nightclubs and medical facilities, he added.
The proposal was immediately received with some scepticism, the BBC's world affairs correspondent Mike Wooldridge reports.
Other proposals reportedly include taxing online gambling, streamlining the bureaucracy and activating an existing plan for an independent watchdog to monitor government fiscal policy.
The new government also wants to spend more money to help those who have been hardest hit by the country's long recession.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-31780354?ocid=socialflow_facebook
please rationalize this for me
Greece 'eyes tourists as amateur tax inspectors'
COMMENTS (152)
Continue reading the main story
Greek bailout
The Greek government could hire "non-professional" tax inspectors, including tourists, to spy on tax evaders, according to a leaked document.
Students and housewives could also be used as part of the reported scheme to tackle fraud, which could include hidden cameras and recording devices.
It is said to be one of the ideas Greece will raise at a meeting of eurozone finance ministers on Monday.
It needs to convince them it is serious about reform to receive further credit.
Eurozone leaders want to extend help on Greece's €240bn (£176bn; $272bn) bailout until the end of June in return for commitments to further reform.
The leaked document, a letter reportedly sent by Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis to Eurogroup president Jeroen Dijsselbloem, was seen by the Financial Times newspaper and AFP news agency.
"The culture of tax avoidance runs deep within Greek society," the letter reportedly says.
"Tax authorities are not only understaffed but immersed in the logic of book-checking when the real problem lies off the books."
Informal tax inspectors would be hired on a "strictly short-term casual basis - no longer than two months and without any prospect of being rehired".
Mr Varoufakis is quoted as saying that the very news that there were thousands of casual onlookers carrying spying equipment on behalf of the tax authorities could shift attitudes quickly.
The amateur inspectors would be able to go to places traditional tax inspectors would be wary of visiting such as nightclubs and medical facilities, he added.
The proposal was immediately received with some scepticism, the BBC's world affairs correspondent Mike Wooldridge reports.
Other proposals reportedly include taxing online gambling, streamlining the bureaucracy and activating an existing plan for an independent watchdog to monitor government fiscal policy.
The new government also wants to spend more money to help those who have been hardest hit by the country's long recession.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-31780354?ocid=socialflow_facebook
please rationalize this for me
Domingo Halliburton
Handmade in USA
Euro to US dollar hit a 1.08 handle
Thread title is going to have to be changed to "13 year low"
Thread title is going to have to be changed to "13 year low"