Greece Proposes Using Tourists as Tax Spies to Fill Shortfall...

[Wilikon]

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/09/business/international/greece-proposes-using-tourists-as-tax-spies-to-fill-shortfall.html



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I wonder if they have the cash for all that german made spying equipment. Greece wanted freedom from their debts. They will get it. So are all their islands and everything else. Greece = Made in China. Soon.

[1715561207]

1715561207

[pattu1]

I wonder if they have the cash for all that german made spying equipment. Greece wanted freedom from their debts. They will get it. So are all their islands and everything else. Greece = Made in China. Soon.

If penalties for tax evasion are made more stringent, won't compliance increase?
Make an example out of a few tax evaders. The rest will toe the line very quickly.

[Possum577]

Sounds like a good plan. The Greeks need to either do away with the services they can't afford or pay their fucking share of their taxes...you can't refuse to pay taxes and then be pissed that the government has to resort to austerity measures.

Where do I sign up? I'll take a trip to Greece to do some sleuthing on their dime!

[TaunSew]

$400 billion debt.  How many barter transactions, of exchanging boxes of apples for olive oil, do you need to bust to pay that monster debt down?   

[BitMos]

I hope you do understand that the cia/nsa aka usmiic have all the datas on all the those that have breached the law, they keep you free to use you when they will need it... come clean, and least they will have nothing on you... what they will ask is unknoweable but it could be those you loved for their sex trades. why trust those that feeded - protected and spreaded the gmo? 0 reason to trust.

IN GOD I TRUST (and the first One). do what you what, but be ready to be shafted. (a like annihilation of a continent, culture and way of life. raw and without light. it's beyond preying, it's tormenting, across generations until the last that could be seen as Children of God; or until those enemies of Them are all killed.).

[countryfree]

What a bunch of fascists! I would have never imagined that. A government's hiring innocent-looking foreigners to spy on its own people.

[GreenStox]

This is just the lowest level of scum-dom that a ruling class maffia can achieve. Of course they are leftists, they want to coerce people and turn everyone against eachother.

What happened to the "good of the people", huh, guess never existed. Their own maffia indebted their country and now poor shopkeepers are the one who get punished for it by not paying taxes? Gimme a break.

[Snail2]

What a bunch of fascists! I would have never imagined that. A government's hiring innocent-looking foreigners to spy on its own people.

The best part is that: these fascists are radical leftists .

[Lethn]

What a bunch of fascists! I would have never imagined that. A government's hiring innocent-looking foreigners to spy on its own people.

The best part is that: these fascists are radical leftists .

Once people see that this is nothing to do with left or right but about beauracrats trying to seize power and influence then the true revolution will begin.

[BitMos]

This is just the lowest level of scum-dom that a ruling class maffia can achieve. Of course they are leftists, they want to coerce people and turn everyone against eachother.

What happened to the "good of the people", huh, guess never existed. Their own maffia indebted their country and now poor shopkeepers are the one who get punished for it by not paying taxes? Gimme a break.

exactly they are so fucking weak that they will never dare to go against the "big" money of Greece (btw since ROME can in, they are poorer than dirt, only their pseudo attempt at propaganda on the youngs works)... why why why? because they want to friendly with the big guys (who said that young girls under heroin had no power...) you see... then you will understand when the sky will turn dark and "life" cease.

[countryfree]

What a bunch of fascists! I would have never imagined that. A government's hiring innocent-looking foreigners to spy on its own people.

The best part is that: these fascists are radical leftists .

They are fascists to me. Normal governments do not spy on the people. It's already bad to do it by people in uniforms, and it's even worse to do it with people in disguise.

[Snipe85]

Sounds like a good plan. The Greeks need to either do away with the services they can't afford or pay their fucking share of their taxes...you can't refuse to pay taxes and then be pissed that the government has to resort to austerity measures.

Where do I sign up? I'll take a trip to Greece to do some sleuthing on their dime!

No it doesn't! First of all they should cut expenses, then stop promising things they can't possibly accomplish and finally stop reaching into people's pockets to get back what they irresponsibly wasted.

[jaysabi]

Look at the extent of the tax evasion problem in Greece. Back when they were occupied territory of the Ottoman Empire, tax evasion was a form of patriotism. The tradition is still so pervasive that today's politicians still openly refer to tax evasion as Greece's national past time. From about 2005 on, tax evasion rates have been around 40% for the country. When nearly half of the population that is supposed to be paying taxes isn't, and then you add on top of that public corruption tied to a deeply ingrained cronyism and nepotism system, and overly generous pension payments driven by politically connected and powerful government unions, it's no wonder Greece is in shambles. A study of tax evasion found that tax evasion from self-employed people alone in Greece in 2009 accounted for 31% of the budget deficit. It was 40% in 2008. Worse, tax evasion is highest among the professional classes (the highest earners). (http://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/sep/09/greece-tax-evasion-professional-classes?CMP=twt_gu) Tax rates are really high there, but that's probably necessary when so many people don't pay and there's so much corruption. The Greek public wants to keep their corrupt government, cronyism, and generous government benefits, and wants to not pay taxes too. That's not a winning combination, and it's a wonder they keep finding people to loan them money when they've proven unable/unwilling to reform their system. Default is inevitable in my opinion.

[ajareselde]

Sounds like a good plan. The Greeks need to either do away with the services they can't afford or pay their fucking share of their taxes...you can't refuse to pay taxes and then be pissed that the government has to resort to austerity measures.

Where do I sign up? I'll take a trip to Greece to do some sleuthing on their dime!

No it doesn't! First of all they should cut expenses, then stop promising things they can't possibly accomplish and finally stop reaching into people's pockets to get back what they irresponsibly wasted.

They certanly dont have the right to reach into peoples pockets and bank accounts, but they have the right to enforce the law, like in any other country.
What we are talking about here is avoiding the tax, selling goods and services without taxing it, any country would do the same if the amount of evasion is high.

cheers

[zetaray]

Tourists have no clue how to tell if a company is evading tax. This scheme is not going to help Greece reduce their untaxed black market.

[V for Varoufakis]

This system is copy-paste from USA.

[Agestorzrxx]

But will the tourists be safe? Certainly not if they are discovered. I remember around10 years ago when on holiday. All of a sudden we were given receipts for everything in shops, bars and restaurants. When queried we were told that the tax inspector was in town. After a couple of days he moved on to an agricultural village around 5 miles inland and apparently he was picked up by some locals in a pick up van and badly beaten and left in a ditch at the side of the road.

[countryfree]

But will the tourists be safe? Certainly not if they are discovered. I remember around10 years ago when on holiday. All of a sudden we were given receipts for everything in shops, bars and restaurants. When queried we were told that the tax inspector was in town. After a couple of days he moved on to an agricultural village around 5 miles inland and apparently he was picked up by some locals in a pick up van and badly beaten and left in a ditch at the side of the road.

This story of beating a tax inspector is a bit difficult to believe. In ancient times, that happened, but that was really long ago. Anyway, if that is real, they should hire more police forces to protect those guys instead of tourists.

[patt0]

Sounds like a good plan. The Greeks need to either do away with the services they can't afford or pay their fucking share of their taxes...you can't refuse to pay taxes and then be pissed that the government has to resort to austerity measures.

Where do I sign up? I'll take a trip to Greece to do some sleuthing on their dime!

So it will increase tourism and help catch tax evaders! Two in one xD

Tourists have no clue how to tell if a company is evading tax. This scheme is not going to help Greece reduce their untaxed black market.

In the article it says they will get some basic training to do it.

Look at the extent of the tax evasion problem in Greece. Back when they were occupied territory of the Ottoman Empire, tax evasion was a form of patriotism. The tradition is still so pervasive that today's politicians still openly refer to tax evasion as Greece's national past time. From about 2005 on, tax evasion rates have been around 40% for the country. When nearly half of the population that is supposed to be paying taxes isn't, and then you add on top of that public corruption tied to a deeply ingrained cronyism and nepotism system, and overly generous pension payments driven by politically connected and powerful government unions, it's no wonder Greece is in shambles. A study of tax evasion found that tax evasion from self-employed people alone in Greece in 2009 accounted for 31% of the budget deficit. It was 40% in 2008. Worse, tax evasion is highest among the professional classes (the highest earners). (http://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/sep/09/greece-tax-evasion-professional-classes?CMP=twt_gu) Tax rates are really high there, but that's probably necessary when so many people don't pay and there's so much corruption. The Greek public wants to keep their corrupt government, cronyism, and generous government benefits, and wants to not pay taxes too. That's not a winning combination, and it's a wonder they keep finding people to loan them money when they've proven unable/unwilling to reform their system. Default is inevitable in my opinion.

I don't think they want to keep a corrupt government. That's why they voted for this last government, and why they are doing this to catch tax evaders and passing other reforms, isn't it?

[Wilikon]

Sounds like a good plan. The Greeks need to either do away with the services they can't afford or pay their fucking share of their taxes...you can't refuse to pay taxes and then be pissed that the government has to resort to austerity measures.

Where do I sign up? I'll take a trip to Greece to do some sleuthing on their dime!

No it doesn't! First of all they should cut expenses, then stop promising things they can't possibly accomplish and finally stop reaching into people's pockets to get back what they irresponsibly wasted.

They certanly dont have the right to reach into peoples pockets and bank accounts, but they have the right to enforce the law, like in any other country.
What we are talking about here is avoiding the tax, selling goods and services without taxing it, any country would do the same if the amount of evasion is high.

cheers

If a tourist is hired to be a spy does he have to report his earnings to the greek tax system or to his homeland? Or both? Does he spy for free?