why Greece is in big trouble

[FlintVending]

Copy of an email I receieved this morning!-

Here are some of the reasons Greece is in financial trouble.



In a detailed article in the Daily Mail (New York) the paper lists some of the waste or abuses of the Greek government:



1. The Metro trains in Athens are air conditioned and feature plasma TVs to entertain commuters. Trains are practically free to use by the 5 million inhabitants of the city. Well, they aren't supposed to be, but as there are no controls at the stations or in the trains, only a small minority of the traveling public actually bothers to buy a ticket. By the way, the Metro system cost 1.7 billion Euros which was paid for by Europe.



2. The average annual income of the Railway Personal including train drivers and cleaners is 70,000 Euros. This represents a third of all employees in the private sector.



3. The annual turnover of the Railway company is 90 million Euros which includes an annual bill of 575 million Euros in salaries. This has led a Greek politician to state that it would be cheaper to transport passengers in private taxis.



4. In the last ten years, salaries in the public sector have doubled.



5. For more than 600 trades and professions in Greece, considered 'hard and dangerous' the retirement age has been lowered to 50, with an annual pension of 95% of their last salary. This includes such trades as pasty cooks, radio announcers, barbers and masseurs in Turkish baths.



6. Tax returns are filled in by taxpayers directly and are hardly ever checked. Thus, in a land with 12 million inhabitants only 5,000 people state in their tax returns that they earn more than 100,000 Euros, without any mention of funds invested in foreign countries. A lot of Greek tax payers state that they only earn 12,000 Euros, despite owning holiday houses on Greek islands, abroad, as well as boats and luxury cars.



7. If a vigilant Tax inspector questions some of the claims, he/she is presented with a "fakalaki", an envelope with money. There is even an unofficial scale of amounts which is expected to be paid to officials. It is estimated that the average Greek householder pays 2,000 Euros to officials.



8. The large Greek ship owners, the richest people in the country, are exempt from paying tax. However the shipyards are empty and only about 500 employees are engaged to look after all the shipyards.



9. Only 300 inhabitants of the richest suburb in Athens, Kifissia, include a swimming pool in their list of assets when in fact there are over 20,000 pools in this suburb.



10 Greece misses out more than 450 billion Euros annually in taxes which should rightfully be collected.



Maybe the Daily Mail should also have mentioned that Athens has the second largest numbers of Porsche Cayenne cars, following Moscow.

[Vendingwarehouse]

Jesus Nugel that's crazy. I always thought there was more going on in Greece than meets the eye but not that much. lol

[Vend And Glow]

You may also have spotted a lot of houses in Greece without a second floor, looking unfinished but inhabited. This is because they only pay tax when the house is finished....so they never finish it!

[Rossi fan]

Fkin hell. Its all greek to me, why they do this and still think they can stay healthy. My question is, why is Europe so keen to bail these monkeys out. Wouldnt it be better to plough the bail out money into the lenders who will loose out when Greece eventually defaults.

A 5 year old could run things better than this.

Paul

[Shropvend]

Wonder if there are any tower operators in greece? No doubt will be paying no tax if there was.

[Rossi fan]

??????? ????? ???????????, ??????? ?.?.?., ????? ????? ????????, ????? ???????, ???????? ? ????????, ??????? ? ?????, We' ll ? ?????? ??????? ????? ??? ????? ??? ??????? ???? ??????? ??? ????? Greeky, ???? Greeky Viva, ???? ??????? ???? Greeky, C' est magnifique, Greeky ????, Magnifique, ???? Greeky, ???? Greeky (??? ?? ???????????)


See if you can work out what this is translated to greek

[Snackmore]

Paul

This time next year Rodney, MILLIONARES!!!

[choice vending]

in my mid twentys i worked in a resaraunt in corfu. (Party time) Every now and then there would be a mad panic and the owners would run around putting recepts on all the tables before Some offical came in for 10 mins or so.

And yea the roof of the restraunt was never finished. there wsa a concrete support colum with a bit of re-enforcing steel sticking out or the top.

[Rossi fan]

Paul

This time next year Rodney, MILLIONARES!!!

Not far away.

No income tax, no V.A.T.,
No money back, no guarantee,
Greek or Cypriot, rich or poor,
We'll pay no taxes thats for sure
God bless Greeky streets,
Viva Greeky Street,
Long live Greeky Street,
C'est magnifique, Greeky Street,
Magnifique, Greeky Street,
Greeky Street (to fade)

[FlintVending]

Paul

This time next year Rodney, MILLIONARES!!!

Not far away.

No income tax, no V.A.T.,
No money back, no guarantee,
Greek or Cypriot, rich or poor,
We'll pay no taxes thats for sure
God bless Greeky streets,
Viva Greeky Street,
Long live Greeky Street,
C'est magnifique, Greeky Street,
Magnifique, Greeky Street,
Greeky Street (to fade)

LOL nice one!!