About 9,000 people offer services on the selection and sale of real estate in Greece, but only 4,000 of them work legally: they are officially registered and pay taxes and contributions to the budget, reports ee24.com citing ekathimerini.com.
The Greek Federation of Realtors OMASE informs that 8000 of realtors were working in the country before the crisis. 3500-4000 of them were selling property in Athens, 1800 - in Thessaloniki, 2700-3000 - in other parts of Greece. Financial turmoil forced some of them to leave the market, and a certain part of the agents continued to work, renamed themselves into "investment advisors" and ceased to pay taxes.
Every year, the state loose millions of euro. Those realtors who don't renew their licenses, often use fake certificates and usually never notify the tax authorities after receiving commissions for the sold homes.