Bid to protect tax inspectors after spate of violence

The head of the Independent Authority for Public Revenue (IAPR), Giorgos Pitsilis, said that a law to protect Greek tax inspectors will be tightened in the wake of a spate of cases involving business owners threatening officials.

His comments came a few hours after the owner of a pastry shop near Volos in central Greece fired a shotgun in the air to scare off three tax officials who had visited his premises to conduct an inspection and had subsequently imposed a fine of 500 euros on him for not issuing receipts.

The incident, on Thursday evening, followed a similar one on Patmos last month, when a business owner attacked a tax inspector visiting his store, punching him in the face.

"A special framework is needed to ensure their protection," Pitsilis told Kathimerini when asked about the recent spike in attacks on tax inspectors. "Such acts [of violence] against...