According to data published on Tuesday by the Finance Ministry, tax revenues in the January-November period missed their revised target by 678 million euros, which is attributed to the significant reduction in income tax collections, put at 416 million euros.

In total, the net revenues of the state budget posted a shortfall of 1.2 billion euros, and it seems highly unlikely that the budget target will be reached by year-end. This coincides with data released by the ministry on Monday showing that expired debts created this year have come to 12.5 billion euros.

To meet the target included in the 2015 budget, state coffers would have to receive 6.07 billion euros in tax revenues. This amount is particularly large and no single month this year has seen such takings. In total, along with the revenues of the Public Investments Program, collections must amount to 9.3 billion euros.

Despite the revenue shortfall, the primary budget surplus in the first 11 months of the year stands at 3.56 billion euros, according to definitive data from the Finance Ministry’s General Accounting Office. This has resulted from a major reduction in public spending, but the ministry is still concerned about the level of expenditure by the end of the year given the needs of the social security funds.

Year-to-end-November data showed tax revenues at 39.55 billion euros, against a target for 40.23 billion. The net revenues of the 2014 budget amounted to 41.77 billion euros, down by 918 million euros or 2.2 percent compared with the target in the 2015 budget.

Other revenues that came in below target for the first 11 months were from taxpayers’ income tax (off 196 million euros), from direct taxes of previous years (61 million euros), from other direct taxes (80 million euros), from value-added tax on fuel (97 million euros) and from the special consumption tax on energy goods (58 million euros). Beating their target were tax revenues on property and capital transfers, by 4 million and 18 million euros respectively.

Budget spending amounted to 47.75 billion euros, which was 1.83 billion less than targeted. Public Investments Program spending reached 4.55 billion euros, 500 million euros off target.
By Prokopis Hatzinikolaou

Source: Kathimerini