Greeks will work 180 days out of 365 just to pay their taxes to the state. 82% of taxpayers are disappointed from the unbalance between the taxes they pay and the services offered by the state. For the fourth consecutive year, Greeks work half the year for the state is 2019. This is the result of a survey conducted by the Center for Liberal Studies (KEFIM) for the so-called “Tax Freedom Day”.
This year, citizens will work 180 of the 365 days in order to pay taxes and social security contributions to a state that disappoints 82% of taxpayers with the disproportionately low level of services it offers, KEFIM’s Markos Dragoumis said during the survey presentation.
This performance is marginally better than last year when Greeks had to work 182 days for the state in 2018). However, the performance is significantly worse than 2014, before SYRIZA took over the country (174 days).
The deterioration is much greater when compared to pre-crisis levels, as in 2009 Greeks worked 148 days a year to pay taxes and levies. On average, since 2009 additional 3.5 working days for the average citizen have been added each year.
The survey notes that according to state budget forecast, in 2019. the total tax burden will reach 77.5 billion – €31.4 billion for indirect taxes, €19.7 billion for direct taxes and €26.4 billion for social security contributions. The amount is almost double the 41.7 billion euros (data for 2017) households spend to cover their basic needs.
Greece’s ranking is the fourth worst among the European Union countries. Greeks in 2018 were the most dissatisfied people among the OECD countries in terms of tax burden.
The Tax Liberation Day is the first day of the year for Greeks to start having the opportunity to choose how they will manage their income if they have to pay taxes and contributions first.
For 2019, KEFIM estimates Tax Liberation Day as June 30 (as in 2017), while last year was July 2.
Of the 180 days of work for the state, 73 days are for indirect taxes, 46 for direct taxes and 61 for social security contributions.
Chaotic distance from the rest of Europe
The extent of taxation vs work days is made even more palpable by comparison with the rest of Europeans. The Molinari Financial Institute calculates the Tax Freedom Day for all EU countries, using an alternative methodological approach to the Tax Foundation’s Tax Freedom Day, which is used by the KEFIM.
According to this methodology, the Tax Freedom Day for Greece in 2019 was July 10th. The only countries that had Tax Freedom Day later this year were Belgium (July 15th), Austria and France (July 19th), but their citizens are not as dissatisfied as the Greeks with regards to the state services offered to citizens.
PS that Greeks work 180 days, from January 1st to July 10th – to pay all their taxes and contributions does not mean that they do not need to eat, pay bills and cover basic needs during this period as well…
