VAT Refunds Greece – More evidence Greek government deliberately inciting a default

I was speaking to some Greek on the weekend and they highlighted the issue of a manufacturer who exported to the EU.

The business’s main market was abroad and so the government was obligated to refund it’s VAT payments.

To briefly describe how exporting works inside the EU. A business buys products from suppliers in the same country. The business pays VAT on these supplies and is then entitled to a VAT refund on purchases.

When the company exports its products into the EU to VAT registered businesses, it does not charge VAT.

So companies who export more product than they sell domestically will have a VAT surplus with the government has to refund.

So going back to the Greek thread manufacturer/exporter. The government was over a year behind on its VAT refunds which had caused the businesses so many cash flow problems that it had to close.

And this got me thinking. It is not just this company where I had heard of this issue ie the Greek government being behind on its VAT refunds, Athens News also wrote an article in 2011 about the Olympia Odos.

Here also, the building contractors were having their VAT refunds delayed.

But most worrying is that the government is not treating exporters fairly. Forget about helping exporters, the government is not even giving them fair treatment.

As I have written many times, exports are the key to the sustainability, independence and prosperity of Greece.

For the Greek government to be putting exporters out of business due to incompetence/bureaucracy shows, in my opinion, that the larger plan is to bring the country to its knees while at the same time vacuuming as much cash as possible from the Greek people.

So not only does the Greek government not want to fire unproductive workers, it would prefer to pay unproductive workers rather than pay companies to bring money into the country. This is one of the clearest pieces of evidence I have seen showing the backwardness of the Greek political regime.

If you have experience of VAT refunds being delayed in Greece or if you think my analysis is completely wrong please leave a comment

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