The Ministry of Finances is considering the streamlining of fines imposed for tax violations, in an effort to expedite court cases that could generate up to 8 billion euros for the cash-strapped government.
According to the Ministry’s General Secretariat of Public Revenue, at present there are a total of 111,151 court cases relating to tax violations that are still pending. In 2013 a total of 35 cases, with fines worth 1.184 billion euros, were examined by the Internal Review Service, but only about 12.7 million euros were collected.
The General Secretary of Public Revenue Haris Theoharis has argued that the excessive fines imposed must be revised, as in many cases simple human errors result in unfair fines that can have a serious impact on the viability of a business. Mr. Theoharis also revealed via twitter his proposal for short-term deadline extensions.
Additionally the Ministry will have to address the fines and relevant legislation related to taxes payable by property owners who have “remedied” illegal dwellings.
