(20 November 2013) There were 18,000 tax administration staff in Greece before the economic crisis. Austerity measures have forced a 50% cut in staff – at the end of 2013 there are just 9,000 workers. Which may partially explain why the Greek state has failed to recover €60 billion in taxes this year. We're not talking tax evasion, but fees declared or requested by the Ministry of Finance that people are unable to pay or that tax authorities have been unable to collect.
PSI-EPSU labour communicators report on their visit to public tax administration offices in Greece, in early November 2013. A tax union representative gives an eye-opening tour of an under-resourced system where remaining tax workers struggle daily to apply countless new regulations, but run out of ink to print even basic forms.
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