Task Force displeased with new tax bill

The Task Force of the European Commission for Greece has reportedly expressed its distress about the content of the tax bill passed in early January by the Greek parliament.

According to Kathimerini, the chief executive of the Task Force expressed his amazement about the provisions of the new tax bill, saying it was not in the direction desired by the EU.

"I do not know why they brought this tax bill. They were given detailed advice about everything by the best specialists in the world", the Task Force chief executive reportedly said, at the same time expressing his displeasure about the limited progress recorded in reducing bureaucracy.

According to the latest report released by the Task Force in December, Greece is behind its targets at the level of taxation and will not be able to meet the benchmarks for the end of 2012.

Horst Reichenbach is particularly hard on issues of bureaucracy as well. He specifically said that "the Task Force, the IMF, the World Bank, the OECD and all the experts in the world have come to Greece. We have said what needs to be done with bureaucracy for every reform sector of public administration, in detail. I do not know why you are not doing it. You have the plans. Implement them at last," he stresses.

In this report, the Task Force emphasizes that pending institutional reform, the achievement of the prescribed short-term targets for revenue collection and audit and the planning for complete reorganization of all the central functions of tax administration are issues that still need to be addressed in the new tax bill.