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I think this time of crisis is the greatest opportunity to introduce a new law, which will change all that applies today and will create a new tax environment. This way everyone will know what taxes we pay, what are the conditions, without unpleasant surprises, as has been happening in the last few years.

Tax evasion and the responsibility of the political system

According to the tax expert, the biggest problem is tax evasion. "Fighting it, however, cannot be done only by promises, but concrete measures are needed. Yet in Greece clientele ties are very strong and whenever measures are mentioned, which will affect relatives or friends though, politicians always yield and withdraw them. The response was to increase taxes of ordinary taxpayers, who declare their real income. But it is not possible to chase people with small obligations which they are struggling to pay, and to leave others with higher incomes because either they stand higher in the social hierarchy, or simply have the right friends. If people see that the government starts persecuting people with high living standards, who declare minimum incomes, it will be much easier to adopt the measures, however serious they may be."

Antonis Mouzakis drew attention to the fact that there are not enough employees who deal with collection of taxes because many have retired. "The rest of them are young people who lack sufficient experience in conducting tax audits. So it is crucial that these people be trained, especially in the use of new technologies."

An indicator for the performance of the tax system was the information, which leaked earlier today, that one in six taxpayers still hasn't paid the first instalment of their due tax.