[quote=ctr70]Come on CA renter…I know your entire life is pretty much made up of posting on this message board…but I know you can’t possible be dumb enough to think Greece’s & Spains current financial problems were caused by Wall Street. Their problems have nothing to do with their massive Governments, massive pensions, unions and stagnant economies and private sectors. Of course not. You just once again re-enforced your loss of all credibility.[/quote]
The controversy has become the hottest of Greece’s political hot potatoes. Former ministers and judicial officials have sought to shift responsibility for the fact that information turned over to Greek authorities in 2010 wasn’t used to combat tax evasion in a country where it is endemic and the government is struggling to pay off enormous debts.
…The machinations surrounding the Lagarde List have stoked anger among Greeks suffering through the fifth year of a grinding recession and facing another round of government spending cuts and tax increases. Athens’ efforts to crack down on tax evasion by small-time entrepreneurs and the self-employed have been publicly scorned amid the widespread perception that those with wealth and political connections aren’t sharing the pain.
Tax evasion costs Greece €28 billion, according to a study by Margarita Tsoutsoura of The University of Chicago Booth School of Business—an amount equivalent to up to 15% of the country’s gross domestic product. Many Greeks openly blame the nation’s political and business elite for having taken a fortune out of the country over the past decade. Few tax-dodging cases have been successfully prosecuted.
Tax evasion is a national pastime in Greece (and most other bankrupt countries).
One thing I will admit all day long: you can either have a country with a thriving middle class, well-functioning infrastructure, social safety nets, all while keeping the fiscal house in order, *OR* you can have a country where tax evasion is the norm. You cannot have both.
