Greek state loses 37.044 bln euros from VAT evasion

During the five years examined, the Greek State lost a total of 37.044 billion euros from VAT evasion.

The average VAT gap (the rate of the difference between expected VAT revenues based on “legislation and ancillary regulations” and the country’s actual VAT revenues) shows that Greece had the fourth highest gap rate in the EU with a 34% evasion rate. The average of the 26 European Union countries stood at 15.2% in 2013.

“The VAT Gap is an indicator of the effectiveness of VAT enforcement and compliance measures, as it provides an estimate of revenue loss due to fraud and evasion, tax avoidance, bankruptcies, financial insolvencies as well as miscalculations,” notes the report.

According to the report, the greatest losses were recorded in 2011 when Greece expected 24.181 billion euros in revenues from VAT but missed out on 9.16 billion of those, which amounts to 38%.