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More than four thousand people will be under the lens of the tax authorities as part of the government's programme to fight tax unfairness. 1,500 people from this group have declared a high income. The state, however, believes that violations will be identified in the cases that were determined at the beginning of the year. The inspections of 750 of them will have to be completed by the end of 2013 and they will have to pay 75% of the additional taxes and penalties imposed on them. The tax authorities will carry out interim inspections of the remaining 750 persons and they will have to pay 55% of the additional taxes and penalty fees imposed on them by the end of the year.

Another large group of taxpayers who will be subject to a thorough inspection consists of 2,600 owners of large property. Under the control programme of the Ministry of Finance, the inspections of about 1,200 of them will have to be completed by June this year and they will have to pay by December 65% of the fines imposed. 128 cases of tax frauds are expected to be sent to the prosecutor’s office and those accused are expected to bear criminal responsibility.
 
The day of truth for 240 tax employees, whose assets will be cross-checked, is also coming. If it turns out that their declared income is not sufficient to cover the cost of their property and the total assets owned by them, they will also bear criminal responsibility. Among the tax employees under investigation will be 110 heads of tax offices and 130 employees.

Meanwhile, the government is trying to find a way to collect overdue receivables from tax obligations from previous years. Uncollected taxes since the outbreak of the crisis have reached 56.7 billion euro and their amount in 2012 alone exceeded 13 billion euro.

The plan this year is to collect 1.9 billion euro from imposed but unpaid taxes 775 billion of which should be in the treasury by June this year. As for the taxes to be levied in 2013, only 24.5% is expected to be paid by the end of the year whereas the remaining part will be paid in future years.

High taxation and low collection are some of the most serious challenges in Greece. The problem, according to local financial analysts and the supervisors from Europe and the International Monetary Fund, is that Greece imposes high taxes on a small number of people. Regular taxpayers have to bear the burden of losses from tax evasion and pay higher rates of tax because the government is unable to cope with the widespread concealment of income. As a result, people resort to deferred payments or delays in the payment of taxes imposed on them, which affects the budget balance.

Regular taxpayers have to bear the burden of losses from tax evasion and pay higher tax rates because the government is unable to cope with the widespread concealment of income. As a result, people resort to deferred payments or delays in the payment of taxes imposed on them, which affects the budget balance.

The European Commission is sending a group of experts from the Netherlands, France, Spain, Belgium, Sweden and Austria, which will help the government to reorganize its activities in fighting tax unfairness and collection of revenue. The Belgian and Dutch groups will engage with debtors to the state treasury, the French one will take the commercial sector and the Swedes will investigate the big names in business as reported by Naftemporiki. The Spaniards will provide technical expertise in taxation and collection of property taxes.

By spring, Greece will have to accept the law on the new tax system that has been changed dozens of times in the past three years. Under the plan of the Ministry of Finance, if the inspections detect violations an immediate confiscation of property, assets and bank accounts will follow. Meanwhile, the government is developing an electronic register of the assets of citizens in order to facilitate the work of the inspection authorities. It will include analytical data on citizens' property, bank accounts, the insurance and private insurance plans they use. The register will record credit card transactions, housing and consumer loans obtained as well as data on the telephone, electricity and water bills the citizens pay.

One of the most important changes that the government should introduce is the reorganisation of property taxation. Now, three different taxes on property apply in Greece that must be merged into one. In addition, payments to the state will be carried out mainly electronically or through bank transfers in order to reduce the work with citizens in tax offices.