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At the same time, many businesspersons are unfairly threatened with arrest. They are owners of companies that realize government contracts and owe VAT because the state has not paid its own debts to them. Currently, the amount that the state owes the companies is € 5 billion.

Moreover, according to the chairman of the union of retailers and craftsmen, Dimitris Asimakopoulos, the state refuses to deduct the obligations of businessmen from the amounts payable by it. Another problem is the delay of payments by their customers and cheques without cover.

In a letter to Minister of Finance Evangelos Venizelos, the union calls for the immediate deduction of companies’ liabilities from state's obligations to them and for the implementation of the European Directive, under which the state is obliged to pay the amounts due within 30 days. As for VAT, it has been proposed that the tax be deposited at the time of payment, and not at the time of purchase. According to the present practice, when the state buys a product or a service from a private company, its owner is obliged to pay the VAT within one to three months. At the same time, the state delays VAT return for months. The same applies for sales and purchases between companies, and the only difference is that the payments are made by checks of extended repayment period.

It has been suggested by the union of retailers and craftsmen that a law be applied under which if the sale is on credit and cheque, the buyer should be obliged to pay VAT to the seller within one month of invoicing. Otherwise, the invoice should be deemed invalid. They propose that the same scheme be applied to transactions between private owners and the state. In this case, the customer should pay the VAT on the invoice within one month of issuing the invoice directly to the tax offices.