Greek Man Sets Himself on Fire Sept 2011

[Mr.Goodbar]

WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT A man pours a flammable liquid on his body to set himself on fire outside a Piraeus bank branch in Thessaloniki in northern Greece September 16, 2011. The 55-year old man had entered the bank and asked for a renegotiation of his overdue loan payments on his home and business, according to police, which he could not pay, but was refused by the bank.
REUTERS/Nodas Stylianidis/www.photoreportage.gr

[Faline]

[kellyhound]

desperate.

aftermath:

<iframe width="800" height="572" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/sMBrS2ZhMFE?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

<iframe width="800" height="572" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/0Bzvb9TooiI?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

[gatagato]

It makes me feel so sad to see what's happening to Greece, Greeks are great people, they don't deserve this. Probably, somewhere, someone who has become wealthy thanks to the corruption that has destroyed their economy, is even laughing at this poor man. :(

[thissiteisfuckedup]

"crooked banks around the world will gladly give a loan today so if you ever miss a payment they can take your home away" - lupe fiasco

[Mr.Goodbar]

Originally Posted by gatagato

It makes me feel so sad to see what's happening to Greece, Greeks are great people, they don't deserve this. Probably, somewhere, someone who has become wealthy thanks to the corruption that has destroyed their economy, is even laughing at this poor man. :(

yeah, greeks are good value. Lots of em in Australia. Sounds like they need to overhaul their tax system though.

6 in 10 Greeks don't pay income taxes

More than 5 million Greeks did not pay income taxes for 2008, according to public documents released by the struggling nation's finance ministry.

More than six in 10 taxpayers earn less than 12,000 euros per year and are not required to pay income taxes under the Greek tax system, the press office of the Greek Ministry of Finance said Thursday.

However, there is wide speculation that many Greeks are not accurately reporting their income.

When asked if taxpayers are accurately representing their income bracket, the finance ministry said that "Greeks are paying the taxes assessed, though some are failing to declare all their earned income by operating in the shadow economy (e.g. by failing to issue a receipt)."

http://articles.cnn.com/2010-12-31/w...on?_s=PM:WORLD

[gatagato]

Originally Posted by Mr.Goodbar

yeah, greeks are good value. Lots of em in Australia. Sounds like they need to overhaul their tax system though.

6 in 10 Greeks don't pay income taxes





http://articles.cnn.com/2010-12-31/w...on?_s=PM:WORLD

The statement

some are failing to declare all their earned income by operating in the shadow economy (e.g. by failing to issue a receipt).

makes me wonder: what do they mean for "failing to issue a receipt"? Are receipts mandatory for everyone but employees, or just some categories are required to? And what are the categories that are subject to controls?
In Italy, (which situation is messed up at least as much as the one of Greece, maybe worse), you cannot evade taxes if you have a pub, you can evade part of the taxes if you are an electrician, you can evade almost all if you are a dentist,and you can ignore taxes at all if you handle millions in the financial market but you just know the right person.
The money evaded by a couple of those belonging to the later category in one year, is much more than hundreds, thousands pub owners could ever evade during their whole lives. From what i hear in the news and from some of my friends from Greece say, this is more or less what happened to them as well, and for a long time. Then, when the situation was already jeopardized, hedge funds and others forms of speculation killed their economy for good; late 2000 recession added just the last kick in their ass. In italy, the best solution to the problem would be a strong earthquake occurring right under the parliament when they are all sitting there: well, not a solution but a great start for sure; perhaps, the same could work for Greece. Politicians are the cause of this mess: first they bring you to a situation where you have to decide whether to pay taxes of buying food for your sons, then they blame the "many evil tax evaders", and at the end of the day they rest in some hotel suite along with their friends TOP tax evaders, money, caviar, champagne and whores.

[juanmigual]

sure glad all of us Americans pay our fair share! ; )

[BigFoot]

Originally Posted by juanmigual

sure glad all of us Americans pay our fair share! ; )

Give us time..we'll be setting ourselves on fire in the masses soon enough ;)

[souris]