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Greek hearse drivers take to the streets to protest tax increase
Dec 22, 2011, 13:46 GMT
Athens- Hundreds of hearse owners drove their empty vehicles in convoys through the Greek capital, Athens, and in the northern port city of Thessaloniki on Thursday to protest the government's ongoing anti-austerity drive.
The drivers complain that their cars have been reclassified from business to private luxury vehicles, prompting them to pay up to six times more in an annual road tax in 2012 and threatening to put them out of business.
In an effort to ease overspending and cut its budget deficit, the government has imposed a series of emergency taxes on salaried workers, homeowners and pensioners.
Greece is heading for a fourth consecutive year of recession, amid increasing unemployment and high taxation.
Athens is negotiating the details of a second, 130-billion-euro ($174 billion) rescue loan deal agreed in October, which includes provisions to write off 50 per cent of the value of Greek bonds held by private creditors.
Greece received a first, 110-billion-euro (147-billion-dollar) bailout package from its international partners in May 2010, preventing the country from going bankrupt.
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