Independent Authority

Apartments, plots of land, stores and office buildings belonging to people or businesses with debts to the tax authorities will soon be auctioned at prices below those used for tax purposes ("objective values") as the law dictates foreclosure sales at market rates instead of objective values, as in the case of debts to banks.

The Finance Ministry appears set to start conducting cash and prize draws, rewarding 1,000 lucky credit or debit card holders every month.

The shortfall in tax revenues looks unlikely to shrink anytime soon as hundreds of thousands of taxpayers are unable to meet their tax obligations due to overtaxation. Data from the Independent Authority for Public Revenue revealed on Thursday that in August alone - even before the start of payments for the Single Property Tax (ENFIA) - unpaid taxes amounted to almost 1 billion euros.

The increased number of inspections at food service establishments this summer appear to have paid off in areas with high rates of tax dodging by enterprises.

According to the Independent Authority for Public Revenue, bars and restaurants are no longer the worst offenders in terms of tax evasion. This unenviable distinction now goes to pawnshops.

Monitoring tax violation cases from the last five years brings greater gains to state coffers, the director of the Independent Authority for Public Revenue, Giorgos Pitsilis, says in an interview with Kathimerini.

The committee tasked with adjusting the property prices used for tax purposes (known as objective values) to the going rates is to present its first draft calculation to the government's coordinating committee, headed by Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos.

The Independent Authority for Public Revenue issued a circular on Monday that effectively ends the hostage status of tens of thousands of taxpayers and enterprises over past tax violations that are more than a decade old.

Only business owners with no real estate properties will qualify for a partial write-off of corporate debts in the context of the extrajudicial settlement mechanism. This criterion excludes the owner's main residence and the production properties, i.e. the professional properties used for the entrepreneurial activity.

The figure of 2 billion euros in unpaid taxes in July alone, shown the Independent Authority for Public Revenue, is a sharp illustration of the fatigue gripping tax-paying individuals and businesses in Greece.

The slump in tax payments has brought expired debts to the state since the start of the year from 5.475 billion euros by end-June to 7.483 billion by end-July.

The Independent Authority for Public Revenue expects to receive by the end of this month details concerning the bank accounts and generally the financial commodities held by Greeks in 49 other countries, as part of mutual data exchanges.