International taxation

In a bid to crack down on tax evasion to the tune of 7 billion euros a year in value-added tax alone, the government is mulling plans to encourage taxpayers to increase online and card transactions so as to increase their tax free threshold.

According to reports, the relevant legislation will be included in a tax bill that will be submitted to Parliament in mid-October.

By the end of next week, the Finance Ministry will have its tax bill ready, which besides tax-easing measures will also include incentives for individuals and corporations active abroad to transfer their tax residency to Greece.

China has announced new round of retaliatory tariffs on about billion worth of US goods. CNN reported.

As of next month, a 5% and 10% tariff for more than 5,000 types of items, including soybeans, coffee, whiskey, seafood and crude oil, will enter into force. The biggest increase - by 25 percent - will be taxed on imported US cars from December 15th.

About BGN 600 million is expected as revenue from the TOL system. This was said by Professor Oleg Asenov of the National Toll Press Conference at the Research Construction Institute, BGNES reported.

"Ministers agreed that it is urgent to address the tax challenges raised by the digitalisation of the economy and the shortcomings of the current transfer pricing system," said a French summary of the meeting's conclusions, Financial Times reported.

The Finance Ministry is looking at ways of making the 120-installment scheme for settling debts in taxes and social security contributions more attractive, with sources suggesting that a foreign expert may be brought in to help lure more debtors and bolster state coffers.

Greek companies were the most heavily burdened by tax in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) over the last decade, according to a study by the Washington-based Tax Foundation.

Giorgos Pitsilis, the head of the Independent Authority for Public Revenue, has been appointed president of the Intra-European Organization of Tax Administrations (IOTA) for the 2019-2020 period, it was announced Thursday.

The inability of the Finance Ministry's political administration to expand the online transaction requirement for the tax discount from 10 percent to 15-20 percent, over fears of taxpayer reactions, has contained the growth rate of card transactions in Greece.

Greek property owners are among Europe's most heavily burdened by taxes, according to a study by Washington-based think tank the Tax Foundation that examines the tax burden on ownership and its ratio to all tax revenues.