Tuesday, May 4, 2010

NY Times: Rampant Tax Cheating Exacerbates Greek Budget Crisis. Greek Wealth Is Everywhere but Tax Forms: Signs of wealth abound in Athens, but only a few thousand Greeks out of 11 million declared an income of more than $132,000 last year, according to the Finance Ministry.  In the wealthy, northern suburbs of this city, where summer temperatures often hit the high 90s, just 324 residents checked the box on their tax returns admitting that they owned pools.
So tax investigators studied satellite photos of the area — a sprawling collection of expensive villas tucked behind tall gates — and came back with a decidedly different number: 16,974 pools.