Despite Greece’s perpetual financial insolvency, there exists a peculiar fact about Greek car ownership. More Porsche Cayennes are registered in Greece than taxpayers who declare an income greater than 50,000 euro. Odd, considering the Cayenne features a list price of greater than 60,000 euro.
Something strange is certainly afoot when an agricultural city such as Larisa (population 250,000), features more Porsches per capita than New York or London, as recorded in a report by Prof. Herakles Polemarchakis, former head of the prime minister’s economic department. The report states, “The proliferation of Cayennes is a curiosity, given that farming is not a flourishing sector in Greece.”
Greeks, wealthy and not-so-wealthy, often do not pay the taxes that they should. Part of the reason is the very high percentage of small family businesses which are primarily cash businesses providing opportunity for tax evasion. Another reason is that the Greek taxation system is seen as oppressive and unfairly applied.
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The Car Spy
For example, purchasing any car involves a 20% registration fee and other charges. One particularly egregious example of unfair taxes is in the case of rental income where landlords pay 40% on gross rental receipts to the government up front whether the rental property is profitable or not. When governments are perceived as unfair, people tend to take matters into their own hands, as in the case of the Cayenne owners.
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