At the end of 2015, the Portuguese owed the Tax Authority €15.5 billion, an increase of €817 million during the year and a ten year record.
Much of the 2015 total is for sums owed that have resulted in insolvency proceedings.
The tax office says that it expects to recover €7.1 billion of the total owed but last year managed only to recover €1.2 billion using the dreaded ‘coercive collection’ system.
According to the 2015 tax evasion report from the Tax Authority, the outstanding year-end total is the highest since 2011.
