Filenews 9 June 2024 - by Eleftheria Paizanou
A total of 5,841 taxpayers, who had total debts of €647.6 million, handed over real estate to the Tax Department in 2023.
Tax collectors, using the tools at their disposal, have strengthened the implementation of the placement of a lien on immovable property without a court order (MEMO). They also seized bank accounts (garnishing of bank accounts).
According to data obtained by "F", in one year the number of taxpayers to whom their real estate was frozen has increased sevenfold. Specifically, in 2023, 5841 taxpayers were in trouble with the tax and of these, the Tax Department placed a MEMO on the properties of 4,818 owners, who had debts of €559 million from direct taxation and 1,023 owners who owed €88.6 million VAT.
In 2022, the number of taxpayers with problems was much smaller, as a MEMO had been placed on the properties of "only" 820 taxpayers for debts of €44 million. Of the total debtors, 587 had debts of €33.2
million in VAT and 233 did not pay direct taxes amounting to €10.8 million.
According to the Department's data, out of the 5,841 taxpayers to whom their property was frozen in 2023, 451 taxpayers have in the meantime withdrawn the MEMO, while another 40 persons have written off part of their VAT debts, amounting to €1.3 million.
At the same time, it proceeded to the seizure of bank accounts amounting to €141,000 belonging to 225 taxpayers. Compared to 2022, the number of bank account freezes was also higher. Specifically, bank accounts of €510,000 were frozen owned by 510 taxpayers.
Criminal charges for 1,156 taxpayers
Hundreds of taxpayers faced criminal charges for non-payment of taxes. The special Debt Management and Debt Collection Unit, which works with the department's district offices, focused on the collection of arrears of taxes due. Criminal prosecutions for failure to pay withholding taxes (VAT, Pay as you Earn, Special Defence Levy (EEA) and for failure to submit tax returns are brought in parallel with the collection measures.
For criminal cases, either a penalty is imposed during the trial and settlement of payment, or an out-of-court settlement takes place at the same time as compliance (submission of declarations and/or creation of a timetable).
A total of 1,156 taxpayers were prosecuted in 2023 for non-compliance with their tax obligations. There were 528 new criminal prosecutions for failure to file tax returns, while 383 from previous years are pending. During the trial of the cases, the Court imposed fines of €213,520, while out-of-court settlement of cases amounted to €88,300.
At the same time, 628 new criminal prosecutions have been registered in VAT cases. In fact, with the criminal charges of previous years, 1,093 are pending.
According to data from the Tax Department, from the criminal prosecutions that were completed, an amount of €8.8 million came to the state coffers. In addition, from the settlements and timelines set by the Department, €1.6 million has been collected.
Liabilities €2.6 billion
Last year, the amount of debt immediately due before collection measures was €2.6 billion, including interest and charges, compared to €1.8 billion. that occurred during December 2022. Total taxes under collection measures in December 2023 were €726.7 million. compared to €757.9 million in 2022.
The net amount of taxes due before the implementation of the bank account seizure measure last year was €1.7 billion, compared to €1 billion in 2022. The net immediately payable amount of tax without collection measures on 31/12/2023 amounted to €1.7 billion.
