Someone ought to explain to General Secretary of Public Revenue Theoharis that tackling tax evasion neither means annihilating taxpayers, nor having them endure torturous queues at the tax offices in order to settle the slightest of obligations.
Because on top of an excessive taxation that is draining every trace of disposable income, we have the imposition of an endless bureaucratic perception which instead of simplifying the tax payer’s life, it makes dealing with public services a burden that is increasingly become worse.
It is totally unacceptable for the state, which will delay paying back to taxpayers what they are owed from tax returns or VAT for months or even years, to impose fines because taxpayers made a mistake in their tax returns and punish them to rectify it. When the state is meant to promote online transactions, it is insane to impose a fine on taxes paid online on the deadline because the banks are not simultaneously updating Mr. Theoharis’ services.
It is insane that even law-abiding citizens who fulfill their obligations to be considered crook and not be able to get a tax clearance, because the payment of an installment is due at some point and they must stand in line at some tax office to deal with it.
Someone must remind the meddlesome General Secretary that before he starts issuing regulations that will further burden taxpayers; he should make the effort and head out to a few tax offices and see what sort of problems the people are up against to understand their anger and indignation. Not all taxpayers are crooks and tax evaders Mr. Theoharis, nor are they obligated to waste their time and mental health, just because no bureaucrat considers the impact of their actions.
We can all agree that tax evasion is a scourge that is imperative to tackle. However, law-abiding citizens cannot pay the price for a useless administration and the sins of others. Some people at the Ministry of Finances and the General Secretariat of Public Revenue must finally understand that they have the duty and obligation to not tax them excessively, but also to make their life easier, or at least not torment them with their indifference.
TO VIMA
