GREEK DEFAULT -GREECE’S RECENT DEBT DEFAULT

Greece’s debt has defaulted. One issue is when government employees get a paycheck but do not put in a complete workweek. Greece’s apparent inability to enforce tax regulations is another issue. I’ve heard of a visitor to Greece who made a transaction there. Following the transaction, they requested a receipt. Oh, we’ll have to charge you the higher price that includes sales tax if you want a receipt, they were informed. It is common knowledge in Greece that the government is being defrauded of sales taxes, which, if effectively enforced, would help cover the country’s debt. The American mobster Al Capone was imprisoned for income tax evasion rather than his many criminal actions, which were more difficult to establish. The FBI accountant, played by Kevin Costner and Sean Connery in the film The Untouchables, was always attempting to get accounting evidence against Al Capone. Actually, evidence of income tax evasion did not need the availability of Capone’s finances. Capone’s extravagant lifestyle, which included driving a pricey, bulletproof car, dining at pricey restaurants, and staying in opulent hotels, was enough evidence that he was a wealthy man and had the taxed income of one to sustain that lifestyle. In a similar vein, it can be shown that wealthy Greek businessmen that underpay sales taxes to the government really earn more money than they are required to. Undercover cops may be sent to Greek retailers; a man and a woman would be sent in disguise to make a purchase as husband and wife. Following the transaction that included the unlawful avoidance of sales tax, a police force would arrive, arrest the dishonest salesperson, and close the business until the matter was resolved, perhaps seizing all of the products. publish the arrest on television and in the news. The government will begin to collect more sales tax when news spreads that filing a false sales tax return might result in prison time. Maybe Greece won’t have to experience another debt default.