9 out of 10 debtors are paying to avoid getting caught

The tax raids are paying off

 

The effects of the economic Police have recently shown impressive results.

As deputy finance minister Pantelis Economou announced from the parliamentary podium of the finance committee, responding to criticism on the government for not tackling tax evasion, only during the third quarter of 2011 we saw an increase in state revenues by 5.5% even despite a general economic downturn that reached 5.5%.

Economou attributed this increase to the tackling of tax evasion. He said that only the initiatives of SDOE in the last 2 weeks brought 2.5 million euros "from compliance and VAT debts. Nine out of ten are now paying. Each week five debtors are led or threatened by arrest, thereby regulating their debts." He added that only during the last week 1.5 million euros have flowed to the state coffers "from checking on assets from off shore companies."

Finally, he mentioned the development in the effort for the technological upgrading of customs in order to tackle smuggling in a more effective way.