Slowdown in creation of new tax debts

Overdue arrears to the tax authorities posted a significant slowdown in the nine months to end-August, according to the Parliamentary Budget Office (PBO).

The rate of new debt creation dropped by about a third, as in the December 1, 2018 to August 31, 2019 period fresh arrears to the tax authorities amounted to 5.3 billion euros, 2.6 billion euros less than the same period in 2017-18.

As PBO chief Frangiskos Koutentakis noted on Thursday, "debt collection has benefited from the option of having expired dues arranged in up to 120 tranches. The share of arranged debts rose to 5.3 percent - i.e. 5.6 billion euros - while a year earlier it was just under 3.5 percent." The timely repayment of current obligations is a necessary stipulation for the settlement of past debts.