IAPR reports state revenue overrun, drop in rebates due

State revenues exceeded their target last year by at least 420 million euros, according to provisional data for December shared by Independent Authority for Public Revenue Director Giorgos Pitsilis with the agency's employees in a letter.

Pitsilis predicted that the definitive data, due in the coming days, will show an even greater overrun.

He also revealed in his letter that the backlog of tax rebates was reduced on December 31 to about 755 million euros from 1.4 billion a year earlier. The share of the December 2018 figure concerning rebates due for more than 90 days without a payment notice sent to recipients comes to just 182 million euros.

The authority's main objectives for 2019, besides beating tax evasion and smuggling, will be the reduction of red tape and the need for a physical presence in tax offices, and upgrading the authority's infrastructures and...