Hope for contrite tax dodgers
Those who admit to evasion and accept inspection findings may have fines cut up to 50 pct
In an effort to cut down on costly and lengthy court disputes and obtain as much tax revenue as quickly as possible, the government will start offering significant fine discounts to individuals or companies that admit wrongdoing and accept the results of inspections, and the resulting assessed fines.
The discount could reach as high as 50 percent for those who confess to tax violations after the notification of a coming inspection, but before it takes place. If the inspection takes place and taxpayers decide not to take their case to the tax authorities’ Dispute Settlement Division, the discount will be 40%. If the taxpayers initially reserve their right to take the case to court but back off before the deadline to petition the court, the discount will drop to 30%.
And if they do seize the court but confess their “sins” ahead of the court hearing date and drop their case, the discount will be limited to 25%.
Following the “confession,” submitted through an electronic platform, and its acceptance by the tax authorities, which is not automatic, 25% of the outstanding fine must be paid within three days. The rest can be paid in up to 12 monthly installments, on which interest is charged; in exceptional cases, this can be extended to 48 installments, with a higher interest.
The electronic platform for tax evasion admission is expected to be activated on October 1.
A commission for out-of-court settlements set up by the Finance Ministry will be disbanded at the end of October, having settled just over 5,500 cases since November 2020. These cases involved assessed extra taxes of nearly €1 billion, which the commission cut to €650 million. Officials believe the cases took too long to be settled.
Authorities are certainly not waiting for the penitent to show up: This summer alone, 48,000 businesses have been inspected, some more than once.
Collectively, they were found to have hidden revenue exceeding €20 million and were assessed fines of €1.34 million. A total of 490 businesses have been shut down. Authorities said that violations were especially higher in the Peloponnese and inspectors from across the country have descended there.
