Tax reform

BELGRADE - In the first three months of the year, the budget deficit of Serbia was lower by 2.5 times than originally planned, show the official data of the Finance Ministry.

The list of the 18 new measures sent to the Brussels Group in order to find common ground between the partners and the Greek government included a measure which indicates a VAT raise in Aegean isles.

Despite the obvious obstacles that may arise, the widely-accepted fact is that the Public Sector may end up receiving 300 million euros per annum extra from it alone.

Government's savings in the national budget over the first three months of the year will permit a reduction to 20 per cent, from a current 24 per cent, in the Value-Added Tax (VAT) or a 9-per-cent reduced VAT in the months to come, according to governmental macroeconomic adviser Cristian Socol.

Photo credit: (c) Ilie BUMBAC / AGERPRES PHOTO

Not one, not two, but eight “other charges” are tacked on to a regular electricity bill.

No wonder consumers in Greece see electricity bills becoming pricier, even though electricity use is down.

Have a look of a typical example of a bill for an average household’s consumption (about 1028 kilowatt hours in four months) with a value of 157 euros.

Representatives of the Greek government and the country's international creditors, dubbed by Athens as the Brussels Group, are to discuss Greece's proposed list of reforms in the Belgian capital on Friday, a Greek government official said without providing any details about the proposed measures.

Economy Minister George Stathakis told private ANT1 TV that he was certain that Greece's negotiation with EU partners would end by the beginning of next week. He said that the reforms package that Greece is creating would be submitted and approved, leading the way for funds to be unlocked, thus ending Greece's liquidity problem.

The Government on Wednesday passed a new Tax Code and a Code of Tax Procedure.

By Evgenia Tzortzi

Lotteries with rewards for receipts collection by taxpayers, which could even include cash prizes, as well as free drinks and tickets to events and museums for tourists visiting Greece are among the incentives proposed by the General Secretariat for Public Revenues to combat tax evasion by promoting the use of electronic transactions.

By Sotiris Nikas

The reduction of the VAT rate overall from 24 to 20 percent will be announced one month before enforcement, and the slash of the VAT on basic foods two weeks in before, Finance Minister Darius Valcov announced on Wednesday.

Photo credit: (c) Angelo BREZOIANU / AGERPRES PHOTO