Greece’s lenders, the Troika, apparently cast doubts on revenue targets The Greek government forecasts to collect from fighting tax evasion. The case refers to Greek government forecasts about revenues from combating tax evasion and for the years 2013-2016. Greek Finance Ministry predicted to collect 3.8 billion euro. The Troika, however, “sees” only 1.9 billion euro revenues and dismisses the Greek targets as “over optimistic”.
The Troika’s estimations came to the limelight, after several e-mails containing some strategic positions of the Greek Finance Ministry were leaked and posted on the blog section of a Greek news sportal. Last Friday, a senior finance official, head of a department at the General Accounting Office was arrested on suspicion of leaking the confidential e-mails sent to him by alternate finance minister Christos Staikouras. The man was granted conditional release, yesterday, Wednesday.
Leaked e-mails on Greek Tax evasion embarrass Greek Government
A photo of the document, which includes a chain of emails dated July 24 and 25 on the country’s struggle to raise money from fighting tax evasion, was published on a Greek blog site.
It includes an email from one finance ministry official saying revenues from battling evasion would be 800 million euros less in 2013 than projected in a mid-term plan.
Another official from the fiscal data department complains that a target of raising 3.8 billion euros from the plan over 2013-2016 could not be justified, given a lack of numbers recorded in 2011 and no forecasts available for 2014-2016.
“With this data, the General Accounting Office cannot argue during the technical meeting with the Troika on Thursday that we must include, even just symbolically, an amount for 2013 (i.e. 300 million),” the finance ministry official writes in the email to Greece’s general secretary of fiscal policy, in which Liosis and other officials are copied.
“Without further documentation, it will also be difficult to convince them on a political level to accept a serious amount and the gap for 2013 widens by 924 million (and for 2014, by 651 million).”
Greek media estimate that the Troika may demand additional spending cuts of 1.9 billion euro, raising the total spending cuts amount from 11.5 billion euro to 12-12.5 billion euro.
In other words, they have decided that the Greek Government is not taking enough of the Greek People to drive the wages down to the levels required by big business to do “profitable” business in Greece.
So the “figures” are now going to be used to force yet more austerity on the people and introduce further cuts in wages and pensions.
the national sport of tax evasion is played by those who can do so, not by those who are caught in the tax net by deductins at source etc. but it’s that last group that is paying the price for the excess of the others. How long more? How long Mr. Venizelos before you are going to put your money where your mouth is and decide that you not only disagree, but will do something about it to support the people and turn your back on the puppetry show choreographed by Brussels? How long Mr. Venizelos? How long Mr. Kouvelis before you stop speaking from both corners of your mouth?
How long before the word “enough” crosses your lips?
It would be nice to see something new in Greece. That is set up an account which is looked after a body of “Guardians of the State of Greece.” These guardians will have no allegiance to any party just to the nation itself. A kind of Mount Athos so to say. And will be protected by the Military a special corps sworn to life to protect this kind of Fort Knox. A New Treasury so to speak.
All taxes and revenues collected will go into it. The Guardians will then administer the funds as to what has to be paid.
All shops will apply for a new operating license number. With that number one will receive a cash terminal programmed and installed by the Guardians. One will only be able to order stocks and sell the products through this terminal only.
All service based businesses will also do the same, through a smaller mobile system.
All stock supplies will come from a main distribution warehouse. Not from the factories direct. All products produced within Greece or Imported go to the Main Distribution Warehouse and from there delivered to the Super Markets, Shops, etc.
A national elctronic ID card will be issued to every citizen and resident of Greece. Everywhere they go they will have to swipe it when they are handing over money or receiving money.
Every employer will register their workers to the Guardians. The employers will provide how much each worker is paid and pay into a special workers account the money they are to pay their workers. And every month the wages of the worker are paid by the Guadians. In this way everyone gets paid. And no more “Hey John, you know things have been tough this month, i will make it up to you next month and pay you both months together”. No no more. And the salaries should be paid to the worker at an hourly rate, no more the monthly rate where employers get away with overworking the workers at no extra pay.
And all the government employers will also be paid by the Guardians, the Guardians will establish how much it costs to run the public service and how many public servants are needed, and allocate the X amount per month for the public service. If the public service over employs then the pay per public servant is less. Including controlling the Politicians wages and expenses.
Therefore if the Government cannot control and be responsible, the people should establish the Guardians to take away their toys and be treated like children by the Guardians.
and a big billboard on the entrance saying “Welcome to your big brother country”.
When those responsible, are not responsible. Then drastic measures have to be drawn up. And Greece is in a drastic situation. Just ask the private citizen on the street who is unemployed. How does he/she feel.
The unemployed definitely do not feel like handing the whole shooting caboodle over to the military and the police, that is for sure.
When those responsible are not responsible, you get rid of them. So far, indeed, agreed. The rest of your idea is “Big Brother” stuff in overdrive, and totally unacceptable.
The key to curing this ill is ACCOUNTABILITY. Right now, we (not just in Greece) are “allowed” to vote every so often and that is our 1.6 seconds of democracy, once every 4 years or so. After that, the elected become the elite and do what they want, because we don’t ask the questions that need asking.
The problem is not the system, the problem is the people not engaging with the system. Which allows a bunch of gangster to hijack it with intend, and that’s exactly what is happening. Be it on municipality level, prefecture level, national level or international level.
The little power freak in the local municipality office looking for “Fakelaki” is no less a bad apple than the EU officials doing the same thing on international level. WE are the ones to stop that, and WE have that power, WE are just too lazy to use it and pull these guys up on what they are doing.
Sorry that it sounds like big Brother to you all. But big Brother already is watching, every time you use your credit card or go to the doctor. Or book into a hotel. And you are already being watched on the public streets through traffic cameras or security cameras. So why not a few more watching not the people but the Public Servants themselves.
And i do agree that as you say, we are just to lazy to use our people power to pull these guys up. But in Greece at least the polies are a bit scared, or they will end up with another yoghurt, egg, or frappe on them.
A bit of yoghurt, egg or frappe might be a temporary release of anger and it makes for good TV, but it isn’t going to change anything. Neither is the big brother attitude. that will only crete much more deviousness than there already is, and it will also create that extreme elite we really don’t want. why? Simply because in the system you propose, somebody HAS TO BE big brother. So, who do you want? Samaras? Merkel? Putin? Obama? Papandreaou? Cameron? Schauble? Venizelos? Michaloliakos? Brad Pitt?
Or would you rather go down the automatic route and have a HAL or some other super computer ruling the roost?
there is such a thing as free will and conscience. A lot of people simply need to be thought to switch it on. this whole sorry mess gives complete new meaning to the words
“Do not do to others what you don’t want done to yourself!”