Tax officials in Greece walked off the job Thursday morning, starting a 48-hour strike.

They are protesting the country's austerity measures, which include salary cuts.

"As a result of the austerity measures putting some tax officers on reduced pay, we have 5,500 fewer tax office jobs," said tax officers' union head Charalambos Nikolakopoulos.

Tax evasion is a big problem in Greece, despite repeated efforts to crack down on offenders.

Greece is trying to get its mountain of debt under control and meet revenue targets set by international creditors.

The country has been surviving since May 2010 on multibillion euro rescue loans from other eurozone countries and the International Monetary Fund after years of government overspending.