Tax Evasion in Greece

 

Tax evasion becomes extreme sport in Greece

May 21, 2010 13:15 EDT By Dina Kyriakidou

In Greece, hiding a little from the taxman is considered good sport, so the government, struggling with a debt crisis is shaking international markets, is firing every weapon in its arsenal to crack down on rampant tax evasion.

A snapshot of the Greek capital’s northern suburbs, where the Athenian nouveau riche have built big swimming pools as status symbols, revealed about half of them had not been declared to tax authorities.

Such luxuries, along with big cars and yachts, are considered “objective criteria” of high income and authorities tax accordingly regardless of declared income. But tax dodgers quickly fought back. On the Trelo Kouneli blog, visitors exchanged advice on how to dodge the tax man. They included “Put an army net over it”, “Paint the tiles green so it looks like grass” and “Hack Google maps”.

The Socialist government faces an admittedly tough task. To climb out of the debt crisis, it must impose tough belt-tightening measures on a public that has seen politicians and businessmen get rich off the state for decades. It was no wonder that Prime Minister George Papandreou sacked his tourism minister this week after press
revelations her singer husband owed 5.5 million euros in taxes and penalties. Blogs went wild with calls to stop paying taxes unless authorities stepped in.

Opinion polls and street violence indicate people will resist austerity unless social justice is done, until blatant tax evaders and those involved in a long string of scandals are thrown in jail.

Given the widespread impression that the big fish never get caught, many Greeks don’t think it’s unethical to hide a little income from a state which gives very little back. At most state hospitals and other public services, citizens regularly get unsmiling, slow service and bureaucracy for their money. Most Greeks pay a “tip”, also known as “fast-stamp” and “little envelope” to get things done.

Doctors, plumbers and electricians are notorious for not giving receipts. In an recent crackdown, the government published this month the names of 69 tax-cheating doctors in the upscale Kolonaki area, saying they face fines and prosecution.

To propel tax payers to demand receipts, the finance ministry has given tax incentives to those submitting stacks of the little pieces of paper to authorities.

The ministry says the measure is already paying off, boosting central government revenues in the first months of the year. But perhaps not as much as it could. Ingenious Greeks may have found a way around that as well. Those who don’t need a big pile, offer them to others and some shops collect those left behind by clients to give as a bonus to regular customers.
“Here’s some extra receipts,” my regular hair dresser told me after a haircut last week, extending a handful. “I put them together for you so it looks like you come here once a week.”

 

New Services to Stop Economic Crime

Posted on 07 August 2011 by Lia Pavlou

A new service to stop tax evasion, corruption and economic crimes was established last Tuesday by the Hellenic Police. Citizens can call the number 11012 to report economic crimes.

So far, more than 400 calls have been made to report receipt withholding.  65-70% of the reports are from the region of Attica.

An orthopedics doctor and two shop owners have already been condemned. After several complaints, the police conducted a research and discovered that they did not given receipts to their clients or updated their receipt books. In addition, police discovered that the two shop owners had hired employees who did not have health insurance or a labor permit.

 

SDOE Examines Unexplained Bank Deposits of Millions of Euros

Posted on 16 August 2011 by Lia Pavlou Tags: Tax Evasion

According to an article in the Greek newspaper “Ta Nea”,  the Financial and Economic Crime Unit (S.D.O.E) examine bank deposits of millions of euros.

SDOE discovered people whose bank deposits were over 70 million euros in total and could not be explained based on their tax income declaration. In fact, some of them had declared they did not have any income.

Six doctors were discovered who had declared an income of 6.2 million euros but S.D.O.E discovered deposits of 11 million euros that had not been declared.

An astrologist was discovered who had not submitted a tax income declaration but his bank deposits reached four million euros. The list of tax payers who could not explain their income also includes, a hair dresser with 1.5 million euro bank deposits, a technical company with 16 million euro bank deposits, and a supermarket owner with 35 million euro bank deposits.

 

University Professors Owe 500,000 Euros for Tax Evasion

Posted on 16 August 2011 by Lia Pavlou Tags: Tax Evasion

According to an article in the Greek newspaper “Ethnos”,  the Financial and Economic Crime Unit (S.D.O.E) is conducting researches all over the country for tax evasion in universities after the scandal involving 60 professors from the University of Ioannin.

The professors in question did not declare 1.8 million euros income from participations in research programmes. Thus, they owed 500.000 euros for tax evasion to the Greek state. Each of the professors had not declared an average of 6.000 euros.