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Athens News Agency: News in English, 11-05-03Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: The Athens News Agency at <http://www.ana.gr/>CONTENTS
[01] Clamp-down on tax evasion(ANA-MPA)-The Greek government on Monday unveiled an ambitious national programme to clamp down on widespread tax evasion, which foresees strict inspections of enterprises and taxpayers in the period 2011-2013.The programme, unveiled by finance minister George Papaconstantinou on Monday, is the result of a joint effort by four ministries and is designed to raise 11.8 billion euros in tax revenues in the period from 2011 to 2013 through combating tax evasion, which has taken on dramatic proportions in Greece.(ANA-MPA) According to the plan, the "black economy" in the country is estimated at 25-37 pct of GDP, equalling annual tax losses of 15 billion euros, or 30 pct of total tax revenue. This performance positions Greece at the top of EU and OECD countries with the largest off-the-books economy percentage rate.(ANA-MPA) The programme envisages the imposition of strict measures (jail sentences, confiscations, etc) and measures to reorganise tax bureaus by abolishing or merging financial services and maintaining only one tax agency in each prefect capital, with the rest tax agency offices to be replaced by citizensâ service offices.(ANA-MPA) All personnel will be transferred to central tax agency offices to ensuring adequate staff and increased efficiency of inspections.(ANA-MPA) Under the plan, the finance ministry will set up a new body for collecting tax revenue and introducing a digital coding system to trace illegal imports of tobacco and alcohol products in the country. The national plan also foresees measures to boost international tax cooperation with third countries and to promote a bilateral agreement with Switzerland to monitor deposits by Greek taxpayers abroad.(ANA-MPA) More details on the subscriber's page of ANA-MPA | Subscription request form  [02] PM chairs meeting on reviving Athens centre(ANA-MPA) -- Tougher penalties against those employing illegal migrants, incentives for couples to live in the city centre and the price of a ticket plus 200 euros to migrants that voluntarily leave the country were among measures decided during a government meeting on reviving the centre of Athens held on Monday. The meeting was chaired by Prime Minister George Papandreou.Other measures included a sweep to collect abandoned cars, increased policing and urban renewal projects that simultaneously made use of abandoned buildings. The meeting was attended by several top ministers. (ANA-MPA) More details on the subscriber's page of ANA-MPA | Subscription request form  [03] Military helicopter on training flight makes forced landing, crew safeAn Apache army helicopter on a training flight made an emergency landing near Megara on Monday night, but the crew are well in health and taken to an Athens military hospital for precautionary reasons.The Apache caught fire during the forced landing, and a team of experts was examining the causes of the incident. More details on the subscriber's page of ANA-MPA | Subscription request form  [04] ISAP stoppage on TuesdayThe Athens-Piraeus Electric Railway (ISAP) will not be running from noon to 4pm on Tuesday due to a four-hour work-stoppage by employees for a general assembly.During the work stoppage, the ISAP workers will attend a general assembly meeting to decide on further mobilizations in protest against what they describe as "forced" transfers to other services. More details on the subscriber's page of ANA-MPA | Subscription request form  [05] ASE opening: DeclineEquity prices were declining at the opening of trade on Tuesday on the Athens Stock Exchange (ASE), with the basic share price index down 0.31 percent, standing at 1,424.68 points at 11:30 am, and turnover at 8.344 million euros.Individual sector indices were moving mostly downward, with the biggest gains in IT, up 1.26 percent; and Food & Beverage, up 0.39 percent. The biggest losses were in Insurance, down 1.69 percent; and Telecoms, down 0.87 percent. The FTSE/ASE 20 index for blue chip and heavily traded stocks was down 0.31 percent, the FTSE/ASE MID 40 index was down 0.10 percent, and the FTSE/ASE-80 small cap index was up 0.50 percent. Of the stocks traded, 26 were up, 24 were down, and 22 were unchanged. More details on the subscriber's page of ANA-MPA | Subscription request form Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |