Get Receipts, Win a Car: How Greece’s VAT Lottery Plan Worked in Portugal

By  PATRICIA KOWSMANN

The Wall Street Journal

Greece has been mocked for coming up with unusual measures to tackle tax evasion, from hiring students and tourists as undercover inspectors to offering lottery prizes tied to sales-tax receipts.

To know if at least one of these measures work, take a look at Portugal.

Since April last year, the Portuguese government has been running a raffle for people who demand receipts for the goods and services they buy, thereby forcing those businesses to pay value-added taxes. The result? More than 40 lucky Portuguese are now in the possession of a brand new Audi. And revenue from VAT has risen more than 4%, or €563 million ($611 million), while private consumption rose just 2%.

Germany used legal tricks to avoid WW2 reparations: Greece

BY LEFTERIS PAPADIMAS

ATHENS Tue Mar 10, 2015 4:04pm EDT

(Reuters) - Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras accused Germany on Tuesday of using legal tricks to avoid paying reparations for the Nazi occupation of Greece and said he would support parliamentary efforts to review the matter.

His comments are likely to heighten tensions between Athens and Berlin as Greece's new, leftist government struggles to persuade its euro zone partners to renegotiate the terms of a 240 billion euro ($260 billion) bailout.

Chances Of Greek Euro Exit Have Not Diminished

 By Henry To 

 Forbes

http://www.forbes.com/sites/greatspeculations/2015/03/09/chances-of-greek-euro-exit-have-not-diminished/

Both European politicians and investors must be experiencing a sense of déjà vu with the current Greek government and its fruitless attempts to extract more lenient terms for its 240 billion euro bailout package orchestrated by the troika of the European Commission, the European Central Bank (ECB) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF ).

Germany's Merkel narrowly avoided bigger revolt on Greece - sources

BY MATTHIAS SOBOLEWSKI AND STEPHEN BROWN

BERLIN Tue Mar 10, 2015 6:04pm EDT

(Reuters) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel narrowly averted a far bigger rebellion last month on Greece's bailout extension among her conservatives, many more of whom would have voted 'Nein' but for her finance minister's powers of persuasion, lawmakers said.

A new low for German-Greek relations?

Yesterday's threat by Greek Defence Minister Panos Kammenos of the Independent Greeks to 'flood' Europe with refugees including potential IS members has arguably brought German-Greek relations to a new low.

Pawel Swidlicki,  Policy Analyst

http://openeurope.org.uk/blog/new-low-german-greek-relations/

9 March 2015

Since it came to power, the SYRIZA-Independent Greeks coalition has effectively written the textbook of how not to negotiate in Europe. Irrespective of whether one agrees with them on substance, they spend too much political capital on pointless posturing and divisive rhetoric. However, despite the lack of success so far, it appears that some in Athens are now seeking to ramp up the rhetoric as opposed to dialing it down.

Dollar Hits Fresh Highs Against Euro, Yen

Traders say Greenback Being Bought Ahead of Next Week’s FOMC meeting

By HIROYUKI KACHI

Updated March 10, 2015 3:14 a.m. ET

The Wall Street Journal

The dollar set fresh multiyear highs against the euro and the yen in Asian trade Tuesday, as market participants bet on the continuing divergence in monetary and economic conditions in the U.S., the eurozone and Japan.

The common currency fell to $1.0785—its lowest since Sept. 3, 2003—in midday trading before stabilizing at $1.0796 midway through afternoon trading.

EU, Greece to start technical loan talks Wednesday

BY JAN STRUPCZEWSKI AND RENEE MALTEZOU

BRUSSELS Mon Mar 9, 2015 4:47pm EDT

(Reuters) - Warning Greece it had "no time to lose", euro zone ministers agreed technical talks between finance experts from Athens and its international creditors would start on Wednesday with the aim of unlocking further funding.

"We've talked about this long enough now," an impatient-sounding Dutch Finance Minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem said after chairing Monday's meeting of euro zone colleagues, their first since Feb. 20, when they extended Greece's bailout deal to June.

Euro Area Pushes Greece to Open Books as Talks Resume

by Rebecca ChristieCorina Ruhe, Jonathan Stearns

(Bloomberg) -- European finance ministers piled pressure on Greece to open its books and follow through with pledges agreed to in its rescue package, as the country tries to avoid running out of cash as soon as this month.

Οικονομία σε ελεύθερη πτώση

ΜΙΡΑΝΤΑ ΞΑΦΑ

Εφημερίδα Καθημερινή

Επικαλούμενος την ανάγκη ανάκτησης της εθνικής κυριαρχίας και αξιοπρέπειας, ο κ. Τσίπρας οδηγεί τη χώρα σε τρίτο Μνημόνιο. Οι πολιτικές που έχει εξαγγείλει αυξάνουν τις κρατικές δαπάνες χωρίς να διευκρινίζουν από πού θα βρεθούν οι πόροι. Η προηγούμενη κυβέρνηση έδωσε ένα «κοινωνικό μέρισμα» από το περίσσευμα που προέκυψε από την υπερκάλυψη του στόχου για το πρωτογενές πλεόνασμα. Η σημερινή κυβέρνηση δεν έχει μπορέσει να εξηγήσει πώς θα χρηματοδοτηθούν οι παροχές που σχεδιάζει, πέρα από αοριστολογίες περί πάταξης της φοροδιαφυγής. Ομως οι παροχές είναι μετρήσιμες και άμεσες, ενώ τα έσοδα από την πάταξη της φοροδιαφυγής είναι απροσδιόριστα και αβέβαια, επομένως το αυριανό Eurogroup δεν πρόκειται να εγκρίνει τέτοια έσοδα ως «ισοδύναμα» για κάλυψη δαπανών.

Creditors Reject Greece's Reform Proposals

by Nikolaos Chrysoloras

Eleni Chrepa

(Bloomberg) -- Greece’s provisional agreement with creditors to avert a default started to crack as European officials said the country’s latest proposals fell far short of what was put forward two weeks ago and Greek ministers floated the prospect of a referendum if their reforms are rejected.

The list of measures Greece’s government sent to euro-region finance ministers last Friday, including the idea of hiring non-professional tax collectors, is “far” from complete and the country probably won’t receive an aid disbursement this month, Eurogroup Chairman Jeroen Dijsselbloem said on Sunday. German Deputy Finance Minister Steffen Kampeter said ministers are not expected to advance on Greece today.

Eurogroup's Dijsselbloem: Greece reform outline 'far from complete'

AMSTERDAM Mon Mar 9, 2015 4:22am EDT

(Reuters) - A list of reforms proposed by Greece last week to help it win creditor support is "far from complete," the head of the Eurogroup said.

Speaking at an event in Amsterdam on Sunday, Jeroen Dijsselbloem, who is also Dutch finance minister, said the Greek proposal was "serious" but not enough.

Eight lessons for David Cameron from Syriza

Different context, different countries, asking for different things. But – irrespective of who’s right and wrong – in terms of negotiating change in Europe off the back of a democratic vote, here are eight lessons for David Cameron from Syriza’s, so far, rather poor

Greece hints at referendum over EU rescue demands

Market Watch

Published: Mar 9, 2015 2:45 a.m. ET

By MICHAEL KITCHEN ASIA EDITOR

LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) -- Greek officials say they may hold a referendum on whether to accept terms from the European Union over further aid to their country, according to various media reports. "We can go back to elections. Call a referendum ... But, as my prime minister told me, we are not glued to our seats yet," Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis told Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera, in an interview that published Sunday.

In Greece, Desperate Times and Offbeat Measures

By LIZ ALDERMANMARCH 7, 2015

The New York Times

PARIS — Despite the European accord last month to extend a financial lifeline to Greece, Athens is rapidly running out of cash.

So it is scrambling to find new, even radical ways to fill the shortfall — including a proposal to recruit citizens and tourists to spy on suspected tax evaders.

Wired-up tax snoopers could be unleashed in Greece

The Guardian

By Ian Traynor in Brussels and Helena Smith in Athens

Finance minister Yanis Varoufakis comes up with novel methods to reform Greek economy before meeting with eurozone ministers

The Greek government has told its eurozone creditors it has a novel way of tackling the country’s chronic tax evasion culture – wiring students, tourists, and housewives for sound and video to spy on tax dodgers while posing as shoppers and customers.

Greece sends EU reform list, more hurdles before early cash

BY RENEE MALTEZOU AND JAN STRUPCZEWSKI

ATHENS/BRUSSELS Fri Mar 6, 2015 3:18pm EST

(Reuters) - Greece sent its euro zone partners an augmented list of proposed reforms on Friday but EU officials said several more steps were required before any release of aid funds to a country that Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras says has a noose around its neck.

Greece must reform and forget Syriza's 'false promises:' ECB's Coene

BRUSSELS Sat Mar 7, 2015 3:09am EST

(Reuters) - Greece must realize there is no other way than to reform, European Central Bank governing council member Luc Coene said in an interview published on Saturday, telling Greeks they had been sold "false promises" by radical leftists now in power.

The Belgian central bank chief said that life outside the euro zone would be far worse for Greek people and warned that if Athens wanted to be financed by the euro zone, the ECB and the International Monetary Fund, it had to follow the rules.

Opinion: Time for Greece to plan its exodus from the euro

Published: Mar 6, 2015 3:00 a.m. ET

By DARRELL DELAMAIDE POLITICS COLUMNIST

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — Greece must now plan on a way to exit the euro EURUSD, -0.68%   if it is to have any chance of staying.

This is not a conundrum; it is the way negotiation works.

The new government of Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras was forced to backtrack last month on its election pledges to get its foreign debt reduced and reverse austerity because it had no plausible alternative to European Union intransigence on extending the bailout.

Greece vs. Germany: Two Competing National Narratives

One reason behind the bitter turn in Greek talks is how the two countries view themselves

The Wall Street Journal

By STEPHEN FIDLER

March 5, 2015 4:34 p.m. ET

The tone of Europe’s political debate about keeping Greece afloat has turned bitter, particularly between Germans and Greeks. One important reason is the stories the two nations are telling themselves about their own recent history.

Germans see themselves as having built economic success from the ashes of World War II through self-sacrifice, personal reliance and hard work. When their economy started to underperform in the 1990s, they enacted a series of tough reforms more than a decade ago that laid the platform for economic strength today.

Greece: No escape from the inevitable

 http://www.voxeu.org/article/greece-no-escape-inevitable

by Lars P Feld, Christoph M Schmidt, Isabel Schnabel, Benjamin Weigert, Volker Wieland 

20 February 2015

Claims that ‘austerity has failed’ are popular, especially in the Anglo-Saxon world. This column argues that this narrative is factually wrong and ignores the reasons underlying the Greek crisis. The worst move for Greece would be to return to its old ways. Greece needs to realise that things could actually become much worse than they are now, particularly if membership in the Eurozone cannot be assured. Instead of looking back, Greece needs to continue building a functioning state and a functioning market economy.