Independent Authority

A shopowner threw cream at auditors from the Independent Authority for Public Revenue (IAPR) on Saturday morning when they showed up for an inspection of his business on the Ionian island of Lefkada.

The Independent Authority for Public Revenue (IAPR) received four new X-ray machines to help customs offices combat smuggling and speed up checks, the body said in a press release on Monday.

In the latest instance of intimidation against employees of the Independent Authority for Public Revenue (IAPR), managers and staff at a taverna in the Cretan port of Iraklio on Tuesday threatened and heckled inspectors who visited the premises to conduct a check.

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.

In a bid to close in on some 3.8 million taxpayers who owe an estimated total of 95 billion euros in overdue debts to the Greek state, the Independent Authority for Public Revenue is to intensify inspections on all those whose arrears exceed 500 euros, accessing their bank accounts and Land Register details.

From January 1 next year Greeks will have to pay 3 cents for lightweight plastic bags such as those currently given away at supermarkets and other stores. The charge will rise to 0.07 euros from January 1, 2019.

Following protests by employees in the public education and health sectors over an initiative mandated by the country's creditors for the assessment of civil servants, tax officers and employees of the Independent Authority for Public Revenue have also boycotted the drive.

A restaurant owner on the eastern Aegean island of Samos was handed a 12-month suspended jail sentence on Wednesday over her refusal to allow tax officials to seal her business, and for trying to intimidate them.

The amount of money that taxpayers owe to the state soared by 5.47 billion euros in the first half of the year, according to the latest official data made available.

Meanwhile, authorities are ordering about 900 confiscations a day in an effort to recoup the money owed by Greeks.

The state has just finished updating its list of uninsured vehicles by cross-checking new data provided by the competent authorities against that submitted by the insurance companies.