One of the biggest economic problems in Greece is tax evasion. Not only did ordinary people do their best to avoid paying some or even all of their taxes, but also the rich and prosperous were expanding their fortunes in cost of the Greek treasury.
An extensive report by The New York Times focuses on the Greek tycoons and their stance towards the economic crisis plaguing Greece and the political uncertainty giving them a headache lately.
The wealthy Greeks, including oligarchs in various business fields and shipping magnates, could offer a partial solution to the Greek crisis by investing, buying government bonds, boosting their philanthropic activity in the recession-hit country or by merely paying their rightful share of taxes to the state.
However, most of these tycoons are keeping a low profile concerning the exact size of their fortunes, thus escaping taxation. “Assessing the ultimate value of Greek private sector wealth is a nearly impossible task, because much of the money exists offshore, secreted away in Swiss bank accounts or invested in real estate in London and Monaco,” reports The New York Times.
Although some of the prosperous Greeks carry out minor or major philanthropic activity, this is not the answer to the problem. However, paying taxes cannot be easily put in the Greek political agenda, for if such a change was to be introduced, Greek billionaires would most probably take all of their businesses offshore delivering a severe blow to the domestic economy.
“The shipping industry employs about 200,000 people. And it brought in 13 billion euros in foreign exchange in 2010, making it the country’s top single foreign-exchange earner,” adds the report. According to estimates, not even a left-wing government would manage to alter the current applicable free-tax legislation for shipping magnates, since this would drive one of the main investment sources away from the country.
“But privately, they cannot ignore the increasingly grim economic and social environment — which is why some have bolstered their already tight security forces by hiring more bodyguard,” underlines the report.
See all the latest news from Greece and the world at Greekreporter.com. Contact our newsroom to report an update or send your story, photos and videos. Follow GR on Google News and subscribe here to our daily email!
