Multiple tax burden hurts Greek firms' competitiveness

Greek enterprises are burdened by an exceptionally noncompetitive tax system and the results of this are reflected in the country's economy, according to the monthly bulletin published by the Hellenic Federation of Enterprises (SEV).

Consequently Greece imposes the second highest tax on corporate earnings and dividends among European Union member-states, while senior officials at Greek companies are taxed at a level that is similar to their counterparts in France, Belgium and Italy and higher than those in the Scandinavian countries, without any respective improvement in the quality of services that those taxes are supposed to pay for.

Furthermore, the capacity to offset losses against future earnings is restricted in Greece to five years, while in most other EU states - which haven't gone through such a long, deep crisis - there is no time limit.

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