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If Greece wants to solve its problems with tax evasion, it should soon be inhabited by Swedes as shown by the results of another GRReporter poll, which this time sought your opinion of "When will the Greeks stop evading taxes en masse?" The majority of visitors to the three language versions of GRReporter do not have great hopes of changing the mentality of Greeks as regards tax fairness. This is also confirmed by recent polls conducted by the confederation of traders and craftsmen, according to which more than 50% of taxpayers would have requested a receipt from retailers if they had offered them a discount for some goods or services.

Four in ten respondents in the poll in the Bulgarian version of our web site reply that Greece should be inhabited by Swedes to stop tax evasion in the country or to significantly reduce it at least. The funny choice is the preference of 36% of the voters in our English version. Only our Greek readers do not consider this choice so funny - only 12% of them voted for the expulsion of Greeks and the settling of Swedes in the Mediterranean country.

"When the political system stops protecting unfair taxpayers" is the second most popular choice in the poll for the end of massive tax evasion. This is the opinion of one in four respondents in the English version of our web site and of 21% and 22% in the Bulgarian and Greek versions respectively. Scandals such as the "Lagarde List" gave ordinary citizens serious reasons to doubt the goodwill of politicians in connection with the fight against tax fraud.

It became clear in the "Lagarde List" case that two governments had not verified the origin of money in more than 2,000 fat bank accounts of Greek citizens in Switzerland even though they had had doubts about its legality. It also became clear later that there had been an attempt to conceal the names of three relatives of former Finance Minister George Papakonstantinou from the same list that became a byword of political protectionism over tax unfairness in Greece.

Third in popularity with the highest number of votes in the Greek version of the web site is the opinion that the Greeks will start declaring the full amount of their income en masse when the government reduces the taxes. This option is supported by 34% of the visitors to the Greek version of the web site whereas the respondents in the Bulgarian and English versions who perceive this explanation as logical are 15% and 16% respectively.

About a quarter of all our readers insist on stringent law and controls. On average, 23% of respondents in the poll on tax evasion are adamant that ineffective controls and the lack of enforcement of strict penalties for violators is a major cause of the widespread tax unfairness. The sense of impunity and the lack of confidence in institutions contribute to tax evasion too.

The option of reducing tax evasion by improving education, health, public transport and roads is ranked last with the lowest number of votes. This choice seems totally unrelated to tax evasion to the Bulgarian readers and none of the respondents in the Bulgarian version associate the increase in tax revenue with the improvement in the quality of life of citizens. 14% of voters in the Greek and English versions believe that people will not conceal income en masse if they receive a higher level of health, municipal and other services.

Please, do not hesitate to take part in our new poll: "What are the causes of terrorism by left-right pockets in Greece?"