Fiscal reforms: Greek parliament approves tax bill

ATHENS: Greece’s Parliament on Saturday approved a new tax bill, part of the latest batch of fiscal reforms tied to the country’s next slice of European Union loans. The latest reform, the first part of a larger overhaul expected in April, broadens the tax base in the hope of increasing state revenue by about 2.5 billion euros ($3.3 billion) this year. It introduces new annual income thresholds for salaried taxpayers and scraps tax breaks for the self-employed, a class blamed for a large part of the tax evasion that has plagued state finances for decades. The conservative-led coalition government has been hit with several defections in the past few weeks in opposition to the continued austerity wave. EU leaders last month agreed to hand out 49.1 billion euros in aid in return for more austerity measures. The International Monetary Fund, which is participating in Greece’s rescue, is also expected to decide this month whether to release its next share of the bailout, worth an additional 3.4 billion euros.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 13^th, 2013.

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