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Greeks Stop Paying Taxes Ahead Of Elections As Central Bank Scrambles To Halt Bank Run Rumors
In what appears to be a desperate attempt to boost confidence in a failing financial system taken right out of the 2011/2012 playbook, over the weekend the National Bank of Greece had its latest "subprime is contained" moment and loudly announced that "the situation with deposit outflows from the country was under control" as it tried to reassure markets ahead of a Jan. 25 snap election, reports Kathimerini.
Why the urge to frontrun concerns of bank runs? Simple: the Greek media reported that there have been significant deposit outflows in recent days due to political uncertainty two weeks ahead of early elections.
Opinion polls show that the radical leftist Syriza party maintains its lead over the ruling conservatives.
"After reports about deposit outflows from the country's banks, the Bank of Greece notes that the situation is under full control," the central bank said in a statement.
"The Bank of Greece along with the European Central Bank are monitoring closely the developments and intervene whenever this is necessary," it said.
Of course, one doesn't need three official denials - one should suffice - to know that things are serious and the National Bank of Greece has to lie. In fact, expect things to get a lot more serious in the next two weeks, especially if Syriza's lead in polling widens from the current 3-6% lead over New Democracy as reported by various polling agencies.
However, while there will be no official confirmation whether Greece did or did not have a bank run for months, unless of course some bank keels over and dies in the interim, one thing is certain: with an increasing probability they may not have a "continuity-promoting" government in less than two weeks, Greeks tax remittances to the government, which were almost non-existent to begin with, have ground to a halt!
According to a second Kathimerini report, budget revenues have slumped over the last few days as a result of the upcoming elections and taxpayers’ uncertainty about the future.
The Finance Ministry has recorded a remarkable slowdown in applications for settlement of debts to the state through the 100-installment program, as well as a reduction in revenues from the single property tax (ENFIA), while the payment of arrears to social security funds appears to have stalled.
It appears taxpayers everywhere are learning from the best: their insolvent governments. In this case, Greek (non) taxpayers have decided to slow down their mandatory remittances to the government even more because the government may just not exist in two short weeks:
Most taxpayers have chosen to delay their payments, given that the positions of the two main parties leading the election polls are diametrically opposite: Poll leader SYRIZA promises to cancel the ENFIA and even write off bad loans, while ruling New Democracy acknowledges the difficulties but is avoiding raising issues that would generate problems and fiscal consequences.
The dwindling state revenues will not only hamper the next government’s fiscal moves, but, given that the fiscal gap will expand, also negotiations with the country’s creditors. The Finance Ministry will have to make plans for new measures and make sure that salaries, pensions and operating expenses are covered, especially in case the creditors do not pay the bailout installments which are already overdue.
Speaking to Kathimerini, a top ministry official confirmed the major slowdown in the rate of applications for debt settlement, and referred to post-election consequences from the shortfall in state revenues. The tax collection mechanism appears to be largely out of action while expired debts are swelling due to taxpayers’ wait-and-see tactics and the reduction in inspections. The same official pointed out that it is normal for revenues to lag during election periods, adding that this time there is no scope for shortfalls.
And since the current Greek government largely operates on behalf of unelected Brussels eurocrats, we applaud this action by the Greeks to finally take matters into their own hands. Perhaps what is more confusing is that Greeks were actually paying any taxes in the past 5 years.
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I want to stop paying taxes in protest of the next election. Who's in??
Sure.... run, run, run, bank run.
Is that you, Roger Waters?
Dear Greeks -
Pay not a single cent in taxes the next two weeks. Pull every EUR you can out of the banks.
Thanks
--The Rest of the World
Greek democracy 2.0, freeing us of the criminal central banksters by just refusing to pay taxes. If only the average american was this courageous, we would be free of the money parasites.
the whole point of this election is that a party came from nearly nowherere and might win against old, established parties. try that at home. "Pull every EUR you can out of the banks" - somehow this advice seems to be as if Greeks did not notice Cyprus, or their crisis since a couple of years
the thing that'll scare the EU the most is if Syriza is lead by true believers who can't be bought off which would require them to do something bad and likely very illegal to herd them back into line. Of course the other over-leveraged countries might get a bit pissed and scared if they do.
If the Greeks misbehave too much, the rest of Europe (reforming Med cuntries included) will agree to make an example out of Greece. In the same way "they lied to us [...] so now we stick a foot to their neck", the rest of the union will be forced to make them as miserable as possible to descourage similar out-of-mind ideas in Portugal or, heaven forbid, €2,000bn-debt-loaded Italy.
Talking about true believers meaning politicians hahaha excuse me while I laugh myself a in a stupor. There are none. Not in this job.
i am interested to know how the tax system (is supposed to) works in Greece.
in many countries employed people have the tax deducted automatically from their wages so not possible for them to stop paying taxes.
of course those self-employed have to hand over the monies along with corporations.
so is it the self-employed and corporations that are not paying?
To paraphrase Leona Helmsley - those are the little people rules (who pay a relatively small share of the State's total tax confiscations). Wages are only a small part of aggregate individual income.
I'm not sure how they are set up but Greece has the highest tax non-compliance rate in the EU which doesn't make it any easier.
A third are officially unemployed. A third are self-employed and self-report. The last third do have payroll deduction for tax and social security. If all your income was from wages, then you don't have to file a tax return in Greece. That pretty much takes care of the 'little people'. The rich and corporations evade taxes like everyone else. It's just easier in Greece because there's nobody that's going to fund a huge tax-auditing branch or crack down on evaders.
Welfare recipients in Greece are strongly against the idea of people not paying taxes, but the tax protest isn't mandatory - welfare recipients are free to continue to pay their taxes if they want. Isn't freedom great?
And don't forget to throw them all in Jail (bankers and politicians who supported the banks) this commoner has learned a lesson from Iceland.
Hope people would stop paying taxes to protest for less government in their economic live and less taxes, instead of throwing themselves from Bankster to economic Statist and leftist wolves where free markets, free entrepreneurship and strong private property right are considered as Satan's himself...
Look like thee peeples still stupid after all.
If the future of dumbocracy is Statism and communism I prefer to kill myself right now.
ZH -
Please stop fueling the fire.
We already know what is going on. Thank you.
Ignore this shithead.
Pour on the gas. As much as you possibly can.
Arius -
Please pull your head out of your ass.
We all are tired of watching you embarrass yourself. Thank you.
why am i embarrasing myself? what is wrong on my statement?
dont you agree that Greece is all a set up? the same thing with all this debt that everyone has been loaded up with from the regular folks, to students etc. dont know where to start or end .... the latest example, the airlines have been stuck with $70 forward oil contracts... how convenient right before the crash....
dont you agree all these people in greece are suffering there as a result?
I know there is a script already and will take place like it or not, but I dont think it should be supported.
ARIUS----> GAMMISIS SOU
yeah, right another paid shill ... never saw your name posting before .... right time right place
I downvote every single one of your pro-status-quo posts. Sadly, that happens to be essentially all of them.
I dont argue with stupid people ...
As Twain said: they drag you down to their level and then beat you with experience.
I am not a loser
You're just not that intelligent. No worries though. The world also needs idiots and morons.
Then a double post for double the down votes.....
Arius, I think you are right this is ALL bread and circus for the masses , and as for greece ,well please been there done that . Just like the oil prices that was not done on purpose.
Do I need the sarc tag on that last sentance.
Regardless whether you're full of shit or not, don't lose your soapbox. Every great idea ever posited came from a lone wolf that didn't follow the pack. Ulcers treatment comes to mind.
I endorse that sentiment.
> Please stop fueling the fire.
what is wrong on my statement?
Well for starters you haven't given the slightest hint why you believe it is bad (i.e. worse than just meaningless) for the regular folks to fuel the fire.
In other words lay out what is the script they would be supporting, and why acting differently or not at all would make a dent.
For 2016, ithe next presidential candidates will likely be Hitlery Clinton and Jeb Bush. If this blatant dynastic election rigging by the banksters will not make the USSA sheeple revolt, then they deserve to be sent to FEMA camps for the final solution 2.0.
Yeup.
What's that? Forced manual labor? Oh SNAP!
I want to stop paying taxes in protest of the next election. Who's in??
Just after the long conversation with the FBI and other fascist thugs.
You are. In jail, that is.
This is all Greek to me.
Never Go Full Retard! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X6WHBO_Qc-Q
Greece is toast. Just stick a fork in it already.
Greece will be just fine..... Diebold, and the IMF got their backs.....
I said that many times over the last X years on ZH. And not just about Greece. Japan comes immediately to mind. Yet here we are. Still lurching along from crisis to crisis.
The one thing you can depend on is that until money printing stops working they will print money.
boom, there it is, the history of financialization ==> "until money printing stops working they will print money"
Something about little hard nipples on top of man-boobs makes me want to puke.
pods
...little hard nipples ???
YOU LOOKED!
Is that guy taking a dump?
Not correctly.
High knees!
High knees!
High knees!
Man boobs are bad, but hairy women nipples are the worst!
Get caught in your teeth. Worse yet is if you accidentaly inhale one of those puffy nipple hairs and it gets caught in your lungs ... Latest research shows nipple hairs cause lung cancer.
I'm going to try that next time, just to see how it turns out, ever curious (and a little excited at the potential).
Mr. Panos is resting, waiting for the Germans to return and visit his beaches, for the German schnitzel sandwich.
oh is it time for Mr. Panos again?!!
Happy Monday to me!
balkan rules
Watch: Debtocracy & Catastroika, two independent, revealing documentaries about the Greek crisis
... outside of the mainstream narratives
To tell you the truth, when things are serious, don't tell the truth.
It was always a farce that Greece would ever pay on those bonds.
Greece, May the Farce be with you.
The Farce was however put on the German People, not the Greeks.... Watch Germany and the north eat abou 100 Billion, to kick the can another 18 months.
"European Unity and preventing evil FX traders from crushing the PIIGS central banks should they return to their own currencies is worth the northern "European" nations forking over hundreds of billions of EUR."
- Ghordo
if you are going to quote me, the general assumption is that you quote me verbatim. which isn't what you are doing here. vain, childish and petty describes probably best what you are doing here
Regrettably, my vain and childish statement is a fairly accurate respresentation of your views on the subject. Although I'll grant you it was quite cheeky.
regrettably, quoting is not supposed to be about "fairly accurate representations" ("cheeky" might be endearing, yes, but it does not make content better, or more accurate)
and the Dow rallies in the last hour of trading in London...
BULLISH!
I can't believe this shit is still going on. Fucking groundhog day.
Can't wait until it comes stateside. I am happy to "pretend to pay taxes" so long as the .gov is happy to "pretend to collect" them...
I don't think Greece has enough money to pay their own tax collectors. You gotta do a LOT of tax collecting from regular folk to make up for the well-connected "big fish" who pay nothing at all and never did.
Sadly, the IRS is still well staffed and well funded.
You will be surprised how fast something can full apart, especially when populated with unproductive idiots (like the IRS).
+1. Teetering on the edge is what this totally feels like. Once a few dominoes go, everyone will run for cover. Tax collectors truly only care about themselves, as most will, when it all falls apart.
Can you say $45.91 crude?:
http://www.investing.com/commodities/crude-oil-advanced-chart
I like the part about no one paying taxes. I hope this idea goes viral.
How dare they bring down the bankers by simply not paying their taxes?
Don't they know that they're just supposed to do what Americans do? I.e., pay taxes, buy guns and bitch? Guns are for owning, not using, don't ya know.
(sarc with a large grain of truthiness)
"no taxation without representation" is not just a Greek slogan. You smucks think would get the time of day out of the political class here?
"The Bank of Greece along with the European Central Bank are monitoring closely the developments and intervene whenever this is necessary."
That's very good! There are still many people waiting in line to withdraw their money. "Not a single euro in the banks!" would be another this year election Greek slogan.
No question, a Grexit is inevitable. European economies are a disaster.
http://www.globaldeflationnews.com/grexit-looms-possible-as-snap-electio...
http://www.globaldeflationnews.com/as-early-as-2011-ewis-analysis-warned...
show me, except BRICS, where is it better, in USSA?
http://www.usdebtclock.org/
"groundhog day. "
Infinite ECB bailouts. Greece knows it.
A huge joke for the Geeks. The bureaucrats in Brussels always trying to save face.
future bailouts will be for "connected" banks that hold greek bonds, NOT for greece
This time it will be for Greece, the banks will be made whole, but the debt will be written down, Its not payable even with NIRP.
if the greeks get uppity with the election they will get thrown unda da bus. kowtow to frau merkel bitchez. /s
The greeks are starting to figure it out? Can't be, can it?
I agree though, what do these useless fucks in banking and government actually create that is of real value again?
Kill them, kill them all, start over, period. Bankers haven't had to actually "work" for a living for quite some time, especially since nobody is allowed to actually fail, go bankrupt or go to fucking prison. Stupid fucks, time to reap what has been sown.
Greeks pay taxes? Tax evasion is the national sport over there.
to less extent then in USSA
With his little pee pee flapping in the wind. - Mr. Panos
The Greek crisis:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zvl9N9GdraQ
Mr. Panos sez, no soup for you, Mr. Schnitzelface.
Anyone who doesn't pay their taxes will be hit with additional tax increases -
The best way not to pay taxes is to just be exclusively involved in illegal activities...just ask the Bankers how it works.
sooo in other words, be a .gov employee
Japan has similar setups... the real-deal is they are living there and just avoid the tax man.
They setup in-inner room, and make outside look "unoccupied". It's a fine art.
Japan blighted by zombie housing
http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/d95ea1f6-5512-11e4-b616-00144feab7de.html#axzz3Oe4XYPyJ
How can you stop something you never did in the first place?
Gee Elizabeth Warren sure feels our pain
http://news.investors.com/ibd-editorials/010915-734164-liz-warren-wealth...
Hardly, I knew from the begning she was a fake.
ten million? LMFAO!!! I didn't realize she was so poor.
With Hillary's calculator Warren would be destitute.
So you think she got to be in a position to be heard by being indigent? You should be thankful that someone with money gives a fuck about anyone else.
Anyone who starts a comment with " So you think " is already a lost cause.
So you got noth'n but a personal attack. Typical and better luck next time.
As the birthplace of Democracy Greeks are better suited than anyone else to know what government is really all about
So I applaud their efforts in cutting off the mo.. err ... government
The US taxpayers could stop paying all taxes and it would be OK since the FED could just print more $$$
What would stop things would be the rest of the World stops accepting phoney printed USD for payment. How long would the supposed US Gold stash last? Two days?
WE know this, but TPTB think printing their way out of anything is the only way....
The only one paying into the Greek treasury is the German taxpayer.
Who the hell was buying bonds at like 4% back in April?
I wonder if they will pay taxes after the rigged election?
'Greeks Stop Paying Taxes'??? WTF???
'Greeks Start Paying Taxes'..........now that would be worth a headline.
well you know, the two remaining private labor taxpayers prolly got together on
TaxPayersOnly.com.
fell in love, got married and said fuck it, we aint payin no stinkin taxes. The went to work for Greek.gov and the rest of the country lives happily ever after, tax free.
This whole Greek thing has to be Putin's fault. Send in John Kerry do give everybody a horse face whipping.
Do they really need tax payers, these days? .......seems rather an old fashioned idea.
the printing press has replaced the tax payer. What really matters is resource control.
Default. Grexit. Then start to arrest Bankers of the Goldman variety. Take them for all they have. You go Greek. Or uh anyway is Greece going to default.
The new policy brought in for Greek tax avoidance last year was cutting off the power at the mains.
Reminds me of the water cutoff for the Detroit residents behind on their bills.
A larger example would be Putin jiggling the gas valve for Europe over Kiev's non-payment.
Looks like they should have locked down the gold reserves and Nukes.
I know the worlds central bankers hate PM's and people who save a bit,but the Cyprus bail-in was an eye-opener.
I never thought they would be so blatant about their theft. As they say,"You are only a virgin once".
Podemos also ahead in the polls in Spain (elections in autumn).
I expect Greece to be kicked out and sanctioned like Russia. If they succeed they will proceed to bring their "crowns and heads" to the "city steps" of Spain, Italy and Portugal and any others who question their authority.
Let's see... the Syriza party manifesto... (any party that has a manifesto should automatically not be able to hold government office) anyway, here is the link.
http://links.org.au/node/2888
Syriza's 40 point platform. The highlights of how not to run a government...
3. Raise income tax to 75% for all incomes over 500,000 euros. (Tried this in France. This died recently - http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2014/12/france_to_end_75_tax_rate.ht... )
8. Abolition of financial privileges for the Church and shipbuilding industry. (Because you need to worship the central government!) And kill one of Greece's profitable industries (Shipping and shipbuilding) Yes, socialists/communists are generally insane.)
Numerous points: Nationalize everything... (Arrrrrrrggggggg!)
After you are done reading the list, it is readily apparent this is the same shit that got Greece into it's current state. But hey, let's double down on stupid.
You're wrong. Greece is the only country where priests get a salary from the state. Absurd and it's high time this ended.
As for the "shipbuilding industry"... there used to be one, however small, the shipping tycoons long ago moved it out, they get their ships from Korea and China... Who do you think the oligarchs are that have run the country into the ground and screwed regular folks, not only now but for decades?! Those fuckers got it enshrined IN THE CONSTITUTION that they never have to pay taxes. It's about time someone went after them...but I doubt Syriza will do it. After all, they TOO are part of the system and an oligarchal stage production. It's all bullshit. They hope Germany caves and gives them what they want, in turn hoping for a bump in the economy while they throw some table scaps to the poor, which will be enough to keep them in power 4 more years, meanwhile business as usual for the oligarchs and the clientilism system which was never eradicated and never was meant to be in this dance with the EU/Troika/Germany.
Greece could have used this time since the crisis to build a real economy, or some semblance of one, instead the politicians representing only the oligarchy tread water and buy time. Greek oligarch does not want to give up it's power, however suffocating and toxic to Greece that is. They don't give a fuck and they never have and never will. Decades ago, the same oligarchs dined the American Marshall plan officials with gold spoons while one remarked he looked out the window and saw starving children in the streets below them. THEY DONT GIVE A FUCK.
Greece was doing much better when everything was nationalized as you say (rail, electricity, phone, etc) and so were Spain, Italy, Portugal and others.
1980: >5% unemployment, 20% debt to GDP ratio
You sir have no idea
The word of the day is Venezuela.
Standard Disclaimer: Maduro obviously needs you as an economic adviser.
The new government must quote Mr. Panos:
Neither party declares an end to nepotism.
They know which side of their bread is buttered.
The lazy Greek dude can afford smokes, and a statue of Budda, but he can't afford tattoos?
Leftists never learn:
"The expansion of Greece’s huge government sector took decades to create, but its growth in recent years has been particularly striking. Public employment grew by fivefold from 1970 through 2009 — at an annual growth rate of 4 percent, according to a recent academic study by Zafiris Tzannatos and Iannis Monogios.. Over the same four decades, employment in the private sector increased by only 27 percent — an annual rate of less than 1 percent.
“Instead of shrinking the bloated government apparatus and making it more efficient, New Democracy and Pasok hardly even touched it,” Stefanos Manos, a former Greek finance minister, said in an interview with Frankfurter Allgemeine in June.
The two parties, which alternated in power in the decades since the end of military rule in 1974, “increased the taxes to unhealthy levels and risked a recession to protect their clientele in the state apparatus,” Manos said.
According to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, in some government agencies overstaffing was considered to be around 50 percent. Yet so bloated were the managerial ranks that one in five departments did not have any employees apart from the department head, and less than one in 10 had over 20 employees. Tenure ruled over performance as the factor determining pay."
The Cost of Protecting Greece’s Public Sector"One in three Greeks works for the government. Government employees enjoy higher wages, more munificent benefits, and earlier retirements than private-sector employees. Civil servants can retire after 35 years of service at 80 percent of their highest salary and enjoy lavish health plans, vacations, and other perks. Because they are so numerous, and because Greece is highly centralized, public-sector unions hardly have to negotiate. They simply vote in their preferred bosses. Some civil servants receive bonuses for using computers, others for arriving at work on time. Forestry workers get a bonus for outdoor work. All civil servants receive 14 yearly checks for twelve months’ work. And it’s almost impossible to fire them — even for the grossest incompetence."
Lessons for the U.S. in Greece’s National Meltdown
- See more at: http://www.darwinsmoney.com/report-from-greece/#sthash.UhzETNyO.dpuf"
Has nothing to do with leftists as right wingers did the same exact shit.
Kleptocrats is more fitting. You can track the expansion of government with the availability of loans to those politicians. Do you think they would spend it wisely? LOL they don't work for the people or care about the country. They used that money to build political fiefdoms and get them and their cronies rich.
?
There are politicians who call themselves republicans but behave like democrats.
Putting feathers in your butt does not make you a chicken!
Mr. Panos is no fool; only the European "Elites" think the Greeks are stupid enough to go along with EU BS protocol, and that includes taxes.
www.traderzoo.mobi
Voting for Golden Dawn is the only way to vote properly in Greece.
Someone Please Tell Me this paragraph wasn't copied straight from the description of American .gov
"One in three Greeks works for the government. Government employees enjoy higher wages, more munificent benefits, and earlier retirements than private-sector employees. Civil servants can retire after 35 years of service at 80 percent of their highest salary and enjoy lavish health plans, vacations, and other perks. Because they are so numerous, and because Greece is highly centralized, public-sector unions hardly have to negotiate. They simply vote in their preferred bosses. Some civil servants receive bonuses for using computers, others for arriving at work on time. Forestry workers get a bonus for outdoor work. All civil servants receive 14 yearly checks for twelve months’ work. And it’s almost impossible to fire them — even for the grossest incompetence."
>Some civil servants receive bonuses for using computers, others for arriving at work on time.
I'd apparently be very wealthy if I were a civil servant in Greece... I understand why my ancestors left though. They weren't civil servants.
Gee what a novel idea. People who are tired of their government destroying their livelihoods tell them to go fuck themselves and decide not to pay taxes.
Seems like I remember a country a long time ago that was created by people telling the government what to do not the other way around.
What was the name if that country? It's so long ago that it was around I can't remember when a country did that. Oh well.
... a Greek Tragedy >>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Pij-SxZLeM
Pretty much the same problem here and the rest of Europe. Free Shit Army and thier cousins, "gubbamint workers". You can tap dance around the fiat for just so long. Piper will be paid. Even the funny accounting doesn't add up after a while. SSDC Same shit different country.
Bankers will be backstopped.
People will be punished.
Feed them as long as the game can be kept going and abandon them when the game is over i.e. no more juices. Return to pick up the distressed assets to recycle. What else is NEW?