Major debtors refuse to pay

Small tax debtors are making use of the favorable provisions offered by the Finance Ministry, entering the 72- or 120-installment arrangements that have been instituted, or even the fixed arrangement.

In contrast, big debtors, who also owe the largest part of the debt to the tax authorities, do not seem to be interested in the ministry's arrangements or the repayment of their debts. Specifically, amounts of more than 10 million euros are owed by 1,325 taxpayers, with their total debt exceeding €67.7 billion. However, they have made arrangements for some €201 million of that debt.

According to data from the Independent Authority for Public Revenue (AADE), out of the €113.7 billion of total overdue arrears, only €4.69 billion has been settled. That is, 4.1% of the total debt or 5.3% of the actual debt collection has entered into some kind of arrangement. Of particular...