Coming Soon, to a TragiComedy Near YOU

Greece Bans Large Cash Transactions:

Finance Minister George Papaconstantinou said "From 1. Jan. 2011, every transaction above 1,500 euros between natural persons and businesses, or between businesses, will not be considered legal if it is done in cash. Transactions will have to be done through debit or credit cards"

"There's tax relief for incomes up to 40,000 (euros)"

"Taxable income based on the new scales will include capital gains from the short-term trading of stocks"

"Deposits in banks outside Greece are exempted from audits of their origin if they are repatriated within six months of the passing of the tax bill and are taxed with a 5 percent rate"

"Wages of board members in unlisted state companies will fall by 50 percent"

And (surprise, surprise) income taxes are going up:

The new tax bill will increase the burden on the rich while easing taxation for those on low incomes. The top income bracket which will be taxed by the maximum 40 percent will be expanded to include incomes of over euro 60,000 a year, from the current euro 75,000 threshold.

(euro 60,000 to 75,000 is RICH???)

Prime Minister George Papandreou told a cabinet meeting that “Our primary duty now is to save the economy and reduce the debt, aiming to do so through the fairest possible solutions that will protect — as far as that is possible — the weaker and middle classes.”

I like that. Having mismanaged and destroyed the economy, they will now protect the "weaker and middle classes" "as far as that is possible". Time for a Sally Field "he likes us, he really likes us" commercial...

Under the new law, all Greeks must collect receipts in order to qualify for the income tax-free amount of euro 12,000 — an attempt to crack down on widespread tax evasion, where vendors under-declare their income by not giving receipts. Cash registers will have to be installed everywhere, including kiosks found on practically every Greek street, and food markets.

(Bummer. If they weren't so broke they could put in cameras to monitor those thieving vendors.)