VAT increase on the table again

The Troika is pressing the government to present a list with the State entities that will be eliminated or merged, asking at least for their number, in order to be convinced about the effectiveness of the measure that will be included in the mid-term plan.

Their aim is to know how much will be saved by the State after reducing operational costs and the subsequent redundancies.

Although according to reports Giorgos Papaconstantinou has already ruled out an increase in VAT rates, the bazaar that began after the return of the Finance minister from Brussels includes several measures which only a few days ago were considered taboo by the government.

Among them, the solution of the transfer of goods and services that are currently taxed at the lower VAT rate of 13% to the higher one of 23%, aiming to save about 500 million euros.

The ministry is already preparing the list of products for an overnight increase of 10% and is being aided by a few supermarket chains that are doing quick inventories in order to directly implement the increases in their product codes.

The possibility of increases in direct taxation, taxation on property (mainly through objective values), and other indirect taxes (including traffic taxes and SCT in soft drinks) remains wide open, and it would not be surprising if the Finance ministry imposed a new special tax starting this year on high incomes and large property owners.

But it seems quite unlikely that it will back off on the equation of the SCT in oil, from which the ministry expects 400mil euros only for this year.