Do you agree with Christine Lagarde?

[ladybirder]

She says that the Greeks should help themselves by paying their taxes.

http://www.telegraph....paying-their-tax.html

I heard on radio 4 yesterday that there are something like 3000 swimming pools in Athens on which taxes are due. But only 300 are actually paid for. BTW the pools can be seen from the air. The Greeks have been dodging paying their taxes for years. This statement has not gone down very well in Greece or with the Greek community here in the UK.

"Greece's central bank estimates that personal income tax evasion in Greece equates to between 2.5pc and 3.8pc of GDP, while its shadow economy – made up of the trade, goods and services, both legal and illegal where taxes are not paid – grew from 24.3pc of GDP in 2008 to 25.4pc in 2010." I can't understand why the tax is not being collected if it is so well known that it's not being paid.

So do you agree with the IMF chief? Should the Greeks help themselves?

[boxtops]

You could say the same about people here who duck paying their council tax - nobody ever seems to do anything about it. I heard of a bloke who didn't pay for 5 years and in the end the council wrote it off. Not right.

[rockyracoon]

This was raging a while ago when Greece first got into trouble, I think it's a cheek to ask the rest of tax paying Europe to bail out a country that has many, many people dodging tax (if reports are to be believed).

[ladybirder]

But we're not needing a bail-out (yet).

[ladybirder]

Sorry, my post was to boxy.

[tonyav]

Why should their Tuppenny Ha'penny dump get bailed out anyway.

[ummmm]

When I was in Greece I asked why most of the houses had steel sticking out the top. I was told that it's because the building was not considered finished and you don't pay council tax on unfinished houses.

[sinderella]

when i was in Greece on holiday i asked why all the houses and hotels were not finished,he laughed and said "we dont have to pay tax until they are finished so we leave a few strands of metal out the top and hey presto...no tax
this was in 1986!!!

[whiskeryron]

If you live in a civilised society then you should in all fairness behave in a civilised manner, you should pay your taxes & uphold the law. Society can only be run properly if EVERYbody pays their fair share so those of us who do, DEMAND that all debts be collected forthwith & stop the dithering.

[tonyav]

It was the same in Italy ummmm, don't know if it still go's on though.

[ladybirder]

Yes I think it's a well known ruse the not finishing the building one.
I agree with you ron but I don't suppose it will happen.
I think in a country where a quarter of the population don't pay their taxes, they have got a bl00dy cheek to be expecting a bail-out from those who do. And I am in total agreement with Christine Lagarde, I think she's a lady I shall enjoy watching and listening to.

[zebo]

Lagarde's comment is the most honest assessment of Greece's problems I've heard.

[ladybirder]

zebo, I hope she will always be that honest and tell it as it is. Very refreshing.

[bazwillrun]

"If you live in a civilised society then you should in all fairness behave in a civilised manner, you should pay your taxes"

i agree Wron, then we can watch the government waste and squander god knows how much of it (SP will want exact numbers no doubt) by giving it to the EUSSR, wasting it on foreign aid, spending it on conflicts we have no right to be involved with etc etc

[ladybirder]

Baz what it is spent on is not the issue here. It's people paying their dues in the first place.

[rojash]

Ummm and Sinderella.
Council tax is charged as part of the water bill, and has nothing to do with if the house is finished. Property tax is charged as part of the electricity bill. Electricity cannot be connected to a house until it is finished and all relevant charges have been paid.

Ordinary Greeks do pay their taxes. But, just as in the UK, rich people avoid them.

At this moment telling Greeks they can solve their problems by paying their taxes is nonsensical. 40% of Greeks are out of work thanks to the conditions imposed by the IMF. How much tax do you think is due on earnings of zero?

[Brenden]

I thought the unemployment rate in Greece was around 21-22% surely not 40%

[venator]

Fiddling and corruption are a way of life in many Mediterranean countries.

While we gold plate EU directives, many of these countries merrily ignore them.

Look in any Spanish fish market, and you will see illegal fish, much of which which they have hoovered from UK waters.

PLease can we get out of our association with this corrupt European setup...

[tommy-h]

I thought the Greeks were already helping themselves-to billions of our EUROS- who next?

[Brenden]

Spain, Portugal, Ireland, Belgium take your pick

[bazwillrun]

"Baz what it is spent on is not the issue here. It's people paying their dues in the first place. "

but if they saw it used wisely, like they are always being told with their own money, then perhaps they might be keener to cough up