Filenews 24 July 2021 by Eleftheria Paizanou
Amid the coronavirus pandemic, the Office of Large Taxpayers, the Tax Department, identified 980 large taxpayers who did not comply with their statutory obligations and imposed taxes on them worth €81.5 million.
In particular, 397 large taxpayers with debts to income tax, who were subject to direct taxation of €78.3 million, were caught in the pinch of the Tax. (income tax, capital gains tax and exceptional defence levy).
At the same time, another 538 large taxpayers with VAT debts were identified, who were forced to pay a total of €3.2 million.
However, compared to 2019, the taxes imposed after an audit were significantly reduced. Direct taxation imposed was reduced by 77.7% and VAT by 75.5%. In particular, a direct tax of €350.7 million was imposed on 378 taxpayers in 2019. and 461 VAT taxpayers amounting to €13.2 million.
Tax fraud
Meanwhile, last year the Tax Office, as part of its tax compliance campaigns, "uncovered" a larger number of tax fraud cases, but the amount of taxes confirmed was much lower than in 2019.
Specifically, in 2020, the Department's provincial offices and the Office of Large Taxpayers investigated 52 cases of tax fraud. During the audits, €1.7m in taxes were certified. In addition, 50 tax fraud cases were identified in 2019 and €36.5 million in taxes were confirmed, while 35 tax fraud cases were identified in 2018 and €951,000 in taxes were confirmed.
It is worth noting that, in addition to the audits carried out by the Tax Fraud Investigation Unit, audit visits are carried out, in cooperation with the provincial offices, on matters of indirect taxation. In particular, 13 audits were carried out, resulting in a tax amount of €1.9 million. and €74,840 compromise fine. The same number of checks were carried out in 2019, resulting in a tax amount of €492,327 and a €109,500 compromise fine. In 2018, 29 audits were carried out, resulting in a tax amount of €4.14 million. and €152,540 compromise fine.
Checks for VAT
According to the Tax Department's annual report, 772 VAT audits were carried out in 2020, which confirmed an amount of €10 million.
In 2019, 770 VAT checks were carried out, which confirmed an amount of €14.4 million, while in 2018 728 checks were carried out, of which €16.1 million was established.
Meanwhile, 309 tax refund cases were placed under the microscope of the tax evaders, through which an amount of €3 million was confirmed. In 2019, 481 cases of VAT refunds were investigated and €2.4 million was confirmed. and in 2018 there were 371 VAT refund checks amounting to €4 million.
In addition, 3,686 capital statements were examined in 2020, which confirmed an amount of €3.4 million, while in 2019 799 capital statements were examined, which confirmed an amount of €5.3 million. and in 2018 1,249 situations were examined and an amount of €7.8 million was confirmed. At the same time, tax department officials last year also examined 28,566 financial accounts resulting in €18.3 million in taxes. This is the largest amount of taxes confirmed by the tax authorities in 2020.
They made sheet and feather financial statements
A total of 37,583 financial accounts were examined in 2019 and the tax attestation was €22.3 million, while in 2018 31,609 cases were examined and €23.7 million was confirmed. Impression is caused by the data in relation to the visits made by officials of the Tax Department for VAT purposes.
Last year, despite the pandemic, vat visits increased to 4,102 and a €4m tax was confirmed. In 2019 there were 3,775 visits and an amount of €375,000 was confirmed. and in 2018 there were 3,590 visits and the amount of taxes confirmed amounting to €425,368.
