Asset register by end of March
Taxpayers will have to declare all their deposits, real estate assets, bonds, cars and cash to tax authorities in 2019.
The electronic register of assets, known as the Periousiologio in Greek, will start operating at the end of the first quarter of the year and 8.5 million taxpayers will need to fill in a declaration form listing the entire set of their assets.
If they fail to do so and cross-checks conducted by the authorities reveal discrepancies, taxpayers face fines as high as the value of the assets they tried to conceal. The e-periousiologio online platform will be connected with all the online systems of the Independent Authority for Public Revenue as well as other state entities, even in the cases that data that are not kept online.
The tax administration will then be able to cross-check taxpayers’ details without delay, while taxpayers will be able to print data regarding their asset details.
Finance Ministry officials say the Periousiologio asset register constitutes an important step toward containing tax evasion, as the tax authorities will be made aware of the entire set of assets of each taxpayer. The same officials argue that the filling of the declarations will reveal new taxable assets that will lead to an increase in state revenues. This will also put more pressure on taxpayers hiding revenues, properties and various other assets of large value such as securities.
The aim of the tax authorities is to create a huge database with the assets of Greece’s 8.5 million taxpayers and its businesses, such as homes, plots, farmland, warehouses, cars and other vehicles, boats and aircraft, large amounts of cash held at home, bank deposits, gold bars, shares, bonds, treasury bills, holdings in all kinds of enterprises, mutual fund stakes, etc. However, works of art and jewelry will not be included for now, as their value cannot be ascertained.
The IAPR has already started the process for the recruitment of staff and transfers from other agencies to the Periousiologio agency. This will mainly concern staff with university degrees and significant experience in tax administration.
