Filenews 6 July 2025 - by Eleftheria Paizanou
In 2024, the amount of money that the Tax Department put its hands on, as part of its tax collection measures, was ten times greater than in 2023.
These are tools provided by the legislation and have been available to the department's officers for years. The amount of funds seized by taxpayers may not be very large in nominal value, however, compared to 2023, the amount is ten times.
According to data obtained by "F", in 2024 bank accounts (garnishing of bank accounts) amounting to €1.39 million, belonging to 337 taxpayers, were frozen. Last year, bank accounts of just €141,000 were seized, belonging to 225 taxpayers. In 2022, bank accounts of €510,000 were frozen, belonging to 510 taxpayers.
Fewer MEMO in real estate
At a time when the number of bank account seizures skyrocketed, the number of MEMOs in real estate decreased significantly. It is the placement of a real estate encumbrance on real estate without a court order, the well-known MEMO. Specifically, in 2024, MEMO was entered into the properties of 5,293 debtors who had problems with the Tax for total debts of €442 million.
In detail, a MEMO was placed on the real estate of 93 taxpayers who owed €9.6 million in VAT and on the properties of another 5,200 taxpayers who owed direct taxation, amounting to €349 million.
Based on the data of the Tax Department, out of the 5,293 taxpayers to whom their property was reserved in 2024, for 610 taxpayers the MEMO was withdrawn in the meantime, while part of the VAT debts, amounting to €899 thousand, was written off from another 30 persons.
In 2023, MEMO entered the properties of 5,841 taxpayers for total tax debts of €647.6 million. According to the data of the competent department, MEMO was placed in 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 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. and 233 did not pay direct taxes of €10.8 million.
It should be noted that the Tax Department was preparing to activate these measures a few months ago in the case of the tax debts of football clubs that did not comply with their debt repayment plan. In the end, the measures were not implemented, as the inconsistent football clubs were re-included in the plan and began to repay their debts. During the recent meeting with the heads of football teams, the Tax Department made it clear to them that if they are not consistent with the commitments they have made, they will proceed with criminal prosecutions and at the same time proceed with the placement of MEMO and the freezing of bank accounts.
It is worth noting that for the implementation of the collection measures, the specialized Debt Management and Debt Collection Unit operates, which has direct cooperation with the Department's District Offices.
In addition to the specific collection measures, the Department is also proceeding with criminal prosecutions for failure to pay withheld taxes (VAT, Pay as you Earn (PAYE), Extraordinary Contribution for Defence (EEA) and for failure to submit returns.
This results in either the imposition of a penalty during the trial and settlement of payment, or an out-of-court settlement at the same time as compliance (submission of declarations and/or creation of a timetable).
Hundreds in the courts
Last year, 1,363 taxpayers were prosecuted for VAT debts and for failing to submit tax returns. Based on the relevant data, a total of 789 new criminal prosecutions were registered in 2024, of which 132 were completed.
Also, 1,093 prosecutions are pending from previous years, of which 470 have been completed. A total of 1,280 criminal prosecutions are pending, while 602 cases have been completed. In detail, 1,363 new criminal prosecutions were registered, 335 prosecutions from previous years are pending and 747 have been completed.
The amount collected from the fines imposed by the Court and the settlements was €299,000. That is, an amount of €133,300 was collected from the out-of-court settlement, €157,385 from fines in the courts and €8,258 from the costs awarded by the courts.
Based on the data, the state collected an amount of €10.9 million, from the criminal prosecutions of direct and indirect taxation. Specifically, from the criminal prosecutions that were completed, an amount of €9.7 million was collected and from schedules of €1.1 million. For last year, another 1,280 criminal cases are pending, for which the revenues will be registered in the Tax system after their completion.
Moreover, in 2023, 1,156 taxpayers were criminalized for non-compliance with their tax obligations. 528 new criminal prosecutions were registered for non-submission of tax returns, while 383 from previous years are pending. During the hearing of the cases, the Court imposed fines of €213,520, while out-of-court settlements of €88,300 were made. At the same time, 628 new criminal prosecutions have been registered for VAT cases. In fact, with the criminal prosecutions of previous years, 1,093 are pending.
€4 billion Tax debts
According to the analysis of the data, the total amount of tax liabilities in December 2024 was €3.93 billion compared to the corresponding amount in December 2023 which was €3.87 billion.
The amount of immediately due debt before collection measures in December 2024 was €2.59 billion including interest and charges, in relation to the corresponding amount of €2.62 billion occurred in December 2023.
The total amount of taxes under collection measures in December 2024 was €729.8 million compared to €726.7 million in December 2023.
The net amount of taxes due before the implementation of the bank account seizure measure, in December 2024, was €1.63 billion. compared to €1.69 billion in 2023.
The net immediately due tax amount without collection measures as of 31/12/2024 at €1.63 billion. These amounts include those that have been settled through the procedure for settling overdue tax debts, as unsettled (plans that have not yet been completed).
