Greece Cracks Down On Company Tax Evasion

by Lorys Charalambous, Tax-News.com, Cyprus

26 August 2005

The Greek government is to begin cracking down on company tax evasion after checks into the invoice data of almost half a million companies revealed that some 7 billion euros in taxes had been evaded.

Economy and Finance Minister Giorgos Alogoskoufis, who recently chaired a meeting on the issue, has issued a list of about 1,000 companies suspected of using forged and bogus invoices and declaring incorrect data to the tax authorities in their lists of clients and suppliers whose invoices exceeded 300 euros.

This follows a recent announcement by the minster that when invoice data from 471,299 firms was cross-checked, the total amount of discrepancies had reached 7 billion euros, most of which (5.3 billion euros) originated from from 4,145 pairs of invoices of clients-suppliers with discrepancies in excess of 100,000 euros, and refer to about 1,000 companies.

The black list of companies includes some which are floated on the stock market, and others with a turnover of more than ten million euros. Alogoskoufis has instructed government departments to carry out thorough audits on the firms so that appropriate penalties can be levied against them.

Recommended