Almost 1.5bln Euros in Assets Seized From Tax Evaders in 2012

(Photo credit: Tax Credits)

Greek authorities announced that in 2012 they seized roughly 1.5 billion Euros from individuals with large overdue tax debts to the state, both in assets and in sums taken directly from their bank accounts. Of the above mentioned amounts, almost 1,4 billion Euros were seized by tax agencies and the remaining 100 million euros by the country's financial crime agencies. A finance ministry report said that these seizures of assets and bank accounts were made possible by a new law on overdue debt to the state.

More analytically, the report, which was dispatched by the state news agency, noted that major tax debtors with debts exceeding 100,000 Euros - were the focus of tax authority inspections last year, with confiscations for these tax evaders totaling 1,16 billion Euros.

Meanwhile, tax authorities have asked banks to confiscate assets worth 350 million Euros owned by 742 large tax debtors, approximately 62 of which have been signalled out to be the largest debtors. The amounts seized from these debtors exceeded 100,000 Euros, for an equivalent amount of debt, with the total sum of the confiscations totaling 320 million Euros.

Parallel to this, authorities confiscated real estate assets and other assets (vehicles, airplanes, ships, etc) worth more than 1,05 billion Euros from 12,136 individuals. Of the aforementioned amount, 4,245 persons owed more than 100,000 Euros to tax agencies, with confiscations for this category totaling 841.3 million euros.

It looks like major tax evaders are finally being obligated to pay their share. Finance Minister Yannis Stournaras said that "tax evasion must end. It is inconceivable that wage and pension earners should continue bearing the burden of fiscal adjustment, while others avoid paying their taxes. I repeat that large-scale tax evaders will pay, while authorities will show greater flexibility for those unable to service their debt obligations".