Greece to chase 41 bln euros in unpaid taxes

Greece's finance ministry will step up efforts to collect part of about 41 bln euros ($58.5 bln) in unpaid taxes and penalties as it scrambles to boost revenues and shrink the budget deficit.
Athens is under pressure to meet fiscal targets set by its international lenders, a key prerequisite for funding, as revenue slippage in the first half of this year meant more taxes had to be paid.
At a meeting with the ministry's top brass on Friday, Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos decided to use lawyers, accountants and auditors from the private sector to assist in the government's collection effort.
The ministry said that out of a total of 900,000 cases of tax arrears, collection efforts would focus on 14,700 — each owing amounts over 150,000 euros or 37 bln euros in total, a sum equal to about 11 percent of the country's debt.
Of these 14,700 cases, 6,500 involved individual taxpayers and 8,200 legal entities.
"The minister's order is to focus the effort on these debtors owing more than 150,000 euros," the ministry said.
The ministry said that some of the tax arrears involved deceased taxpayers or those who had filed for bankruptcy.
Still, based on its estimates, this would leave about 10,000 cases that will come under scrutiny. The ministry said that 716,000 or so cases involved amounts of not more than 3,000 euros.