Athens Macedonian News Agency: News in English, 17-03-26

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From: The Athens News Agency at <http://www.ana.gr/>

CONTENTS

[01] ND accusation that gov't growth plan will burden public finances is unfounded-ministry sources

[02] Ernst & Young: Profile of Greek tax evader is a married doctor with many kids living in rural area

[03] Opening of Tembi Valley road works postponed for April 3

[01] ND accusation that gov't growth plan will burden public finances is unfounded-ministry sources

The comment was a reply to New Democracy's Shadow Minister for Growth Dora Bakoyannis who said that the plan, instead of providing incentives to businesses, it proposes ineffective measures to temporarily boost employment, which will further burden public finances.

According to the sources, the measures are not temporary but aim at restarting the economy, by tackling initially the problem of unemployment, as well as attracting investments and increasing the production.

"The accusation that the measures boosting employment in the Growth Plan will bring greater fiscal burdening is completely unfounded for a simple reason: Apart from the evaluation of the fiscal impact taken into account by the Plan, the simplest answer is that neither the IMF nor Mr. Schaeuble have vetoed the measures in question," the sources said.

"If there was a serious impact, then the first to react to these measures would have been the country's creditors," they added.

[02] Ernst & Young: Profile of Greek tax evader is a married doctor with many kids living in rural area

The study, based on an analysis of income declarations from 2004-2005, was presented at an event on fighting tax evasion organized by the Hellenic Federation of Enterprises (SEV) and Research and Policy Institute "diaNEOsis" and includes a breakdown of the data based on the profession, the place of residence, the family status etc.

According to the study, the percentage of undeclared income for the self-employed professionals is estimated at 57 pct to 58.6 pct, while the relevant rate for employees is 0.5 pct to 1.0 pct. The agricultural sector follows closely in tax evasion with percentages of undeclared income standing at 53 pct.

However the study notes that the low percentage of tax evasion in salaried employment raises suspicions of possible "mutual agreement" between employers and employees to hide a part or the entirety of the salary, to benefit both sides: the employer avoids paying social security contributions and the employee is not taxed on income.

Apart from the medical and agricultural sectors, tax evasion is also found in construction, education, in the provision of accounting - financial services and legal services.

The study also showed that tax evasion is higher in southern Greece, where the rate of undeclared income totals 16 percent, while in the Attica region, the rate stands at 6 percent. In general, rural areas show the higher percentage of income concealment.

In terms of the family status, singles tend to tax evade less (7.2 pct), while married couples with children show a more than double percentage (10.4 pct) which tends to rise further with every added child (up to 16.7 pct for those with four or more children).

[03] Opening of Tembi Valley road works postponed for April 3

"Because of prior commitments, we were informed that Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras will not be able to attend the opening of the works at the Tembi Valley on the first day of April. The opening ceremony is transferred to April 3 so that the prime minister can attend," Irene Zavridou of Aegean Motorway SA told www.praktoreio-macedonia.gr.

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