Taxes stifle corporate earnings, says Grant Thornton

High taxation not only siphons off the small profits of Greek enterprises, but also works against investment, employment and growth, a Grant Thornton survey has found.

The report on Greek entrepreneurship illustrated that 60 percent of the net profits at the companies sampled in 2017 went toward taxes, resulting in there not being enough earnings after taxation to finance any new investments.

Consequently business equipment is depreciating and corporations are using obsolete production methods, and despite the 4 percent annual growth in sales and the 16 percent expansion in profits in 2017, growth is mainly thanks to cost cutting, not exports.

Grant Thornton also found that only 4 percent of sales turnover is reinvested, mainly going toward the maintenance of existing production equipment. That trend is expected to persist for at least another 12 months, as 80...