Nearly 50% of Greek businesses commit tax fraud, says finance ministry

Tax inspectors' investigation from end of July to early August finds rate of non-compliance as high as 85% in some areas

Nationwide spot checks by Greek tax inspectors have found that almost every other business is cheating the taxman.

Despite repeated campaigns by successive governments, tax fraud remains a major problem in debt-hobbled Greece.

The finance ministry said Friday that 731 of 1,465 companies checked from 25 July to 5 August had violated tax laws. The highest rate of non-compliance – 85% – was on the islands of Evia and Skyros. The tourist destinations of Mykonos, Santorini and Crete had rates of over 56% of the businesses investigated.

The revelations came as the Greek finance minister, Yannis Stournaras, said the country could return to bond markets next year – predicting it would return to economic growth and record a budget surplus excluding interest payments.

By then, Greeks will have endured six years of recession that have shrunk the economy dramatically. Excluded from financial markets since 2010, Greece has been kept afloat and inside the eurozone only by its €240bn (£206.4bn) international bailout.

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