Filenews 20 July 2021 - by Eleftheria Paizanou
More than 800 taxpayers were prosecuted in 2020 for tax debts of millions, according to data from the Tax Department.
In particular, the Tax Department proceeded to prosecute dozens of natural and legal persons for failure to pay withheld taxes, such as VAT, an exceptional contribution to defence and for not submitting income tax returns.
After the prosecution of taxpayers, either they are fined during the trial and settlement of repayment, or an out-of-court settlement, at the same time as compliance (submission of declarations and/or creation of a timetable).
According to Tax Department data, 864 new criminal charges were filed in 2020 for not filing income tax returns, while another 406 prosecutions were pending from previous years. A total of 544 criminal charges are pending in the courts.
In the state coffers, an amount of €349,000 was reached, of which €151,000 was paid to the State Funds. came from an out-of-court arrangement, amounting to €185,000 fines imposed by the courts and almost €13,000 costs incurred by the provincial courts.
In 2019, 910 taxpayers were prosecuted, while another 311 were in court for cases from previous years. Of the total prosecutions, 815 have been completed and another 406 are pending. The state had collected €306,392, of which €164,500 was the result of out-of-court regulation and the rest from fines imposed by the courts.
According to the same figures, 543 taxpayers had been prosecuted in 2018, while another 622 cases were brought to justice as they related to prosecutions from previous years. Of these, 855 were completed and another 311 prosecutions were pending, through which €430,421 was collected, of which €260,000 was collected. resulting from the imposition of fines.
476 prosecutions for VAT
In relation to VAT debts, 476 new criminal prosecutions were registered in the courts last year, while another 1,014 prosecutions were pending in previous years. At the end of 2020, the examination of the criminal prosecutions of 495 taxpayers has been completed and 995 prosecutions are still pending, of which €2.7 million will be collected. At the same time, almost twice as many debtors and 883 taxpayers had been prosecuted in 2019, while another 715 prosecutions were pending from previous years.
A total of 584 cases were completed and more than 1,014 were pending. Total receipts in 2019 amounted to €6.8 million. In addition, 474 new criminal prosecutions were registered in 2018 and 1,247 were pending from previous years, of which 1,006 were completed. The Department of Taxation, through its 2018 criminal prosecutions, had collected €7.9m in 2014.
MEMO and seizures
In addition to the criminal and civil prosecutions of the Tax Department, 5,700 taxpayers have been placed in real estate for debts of €292.6 million.
Many debts
According to data from the Tax Department, at the end of December 2020, the debt immediately due before the receivable measures was €1.7 billion, compared to the corresponding amount of €1.1 billion. December 2019. The total taxes under recovery measures in December 2020 were €729.5 million, compared with €330.4 million in the same period last year. last year. The net amount of tax due before the application of the bank account seizure measure in December 2020 was €911.6 million. compared to €722 million in the same period last year. which was in 2019.
