Public economics

The European Commission ordered Belgium on Jan. 11 to recover 700 million euros ($763 million) from 35 large companies in back taxes in the EU executive's biggest move yet to crack down on tax avoidance by multinationals.

Alternate Finance Minister Tryfon Alexiadis left open the possibility of abolishing VAT on Greek islands that which face social and economic problems caused by the mass influx of refugees, while speaking in Parliament on Friday.

Turkcell CEO Kaan Terzio?lu has called on the government to lower taxes placed on the telecommunications industry and remove obstacles to investments for the rapid increase of Internet penetration.

New Year welcomes Greek citizens with strict economic measures to combat tax evasion, since the goal of the Ministry of Finance is to record and monitor thoroughly all assets of Greek citizens.

In this framework, the economic team of the government plans to impose a mandatory declaration of property status.

Bulgaria's budget deficit for 2015 will be lower than planned, Finance Minister Vladislav Goranov has said, citing preliminary estimates.

The 2016 draft budget is a “landmark” for the Greek economy, Alternate Finance Minister Giorgos Chouliarakis said during his address at the parliament’s Economics Committee.

“It’s the first of the four that will follow from 2016 until 2019 and will mark the government’s medium-term, fiscal policy,” he said.

The draft budget tabled last week in Greek Parliament has set the tone of what we should expect next.

The Finance Ministry on Thursday submitted an amendment to a draft omnibus bill in Parliament with which the 23% VAT on private education backdated to July 20 is formally abolished, putting an official end to the measure.

Any VAT that may have been paid in the meantime will be returnable and any fines for non-payment will be written off and also returned.

The leaders of the world's largest economies remain committed to a goal of lifting their collective output by an additional 2 percent by 2018, they said in a statement on Nov. 16, even though growth remains uneven and weaker than expected globally, as reported by Reuters. 

Bulgaria's parliament on Wednesday tightened tax rules for company-registered cars and lowered the ceiling for cash payments.

Under draft amendments to the Corporate Income Tax Act adopted on first reading, companies will be able to reimburse only up to 70% of VAT on the purchase price of a vehicle if they use it for personal travel during weekends.