By G. Kouros
Greece’s tax authorities and auditors will gain easier access to individuals’ safety deposit boxes in domestic banks as of Jan. 1, 2019, after measures aimed to simplify the legal procedure for such court-ordered action takes effect, as “N” reported last month.
The continuing “tax safari” unleashed in the country in 2016 – a year after the leftist-rightist Tsipras coalition government served up its own memorandum bailout – will allow tax inspectors easier access to prospective undeclared cash, precious metals, expensive jewelry and even valuable works of art hidden away from revenue services’ view by taxpayers with major arrears to the state.
The initiative is to locate so-called “strategic defaulters”, i.e. taxpayers with major arrears to the state that, however, report little or no apparent income but who have assets overseas, in safety deposit boxes or who control and exploit property under other individuals’ names.
According to reports, confiscating euros and foreign currency in bank accounts corresponding to individuals with major arrears to the tax bureau and social security funds is proving ineffective.
Confiscation of assets in safe deposit boxes is already prescribed in Greek law, but under strict conditions, necessitating a judicial ruling or a prosecutor’s order to open a safe deposit box. In absolute terms, very few such instances are recorded on an annual basis, and usually only for arrears to the state exceeding 1.5 million euros.
