“Greece  is struggling to cope with a collapse in corporate tax receipts, according to the latest figures from the Greek finance ministry.

The steep fall in corporation tax income – from €737m (£590m) between January and May 2011 to €448m in the same period this year – is likely to weigh heavily on the new coalition government as it prepares for a European summit later this week.

Without the ability to tax company profits, the government will be forced to step up its demands on households for tax income at a time when most families are already suffering cuts in wages and falling living standards.

The figures will also undermine the message from Greek leaders that the new government is capable of arresting the country’s decline and paying the interest on a new tranche of debt funding from Brussels.”

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