Report reveals list of brazen tax dodging

A report by Greece’s Independent Authority for Public Revenue into cases of tax evasion inspected by its YEDDE service in 2017 has shed light on dozens of cases where taxpayers brazenly failed to declare millions of euros in assets.

According to the report, the YEDDE directorate carried out 18,148 inspections last year against 13,058 in 2016, finding evidence of revenue losses worth 104.3 million euros, of 170 percent above the 38.62 million euros of unpaid taxed traced in 2016.

More specifically, YEDDE said it carried out a total of 12,983 audits against the annual target of 5,000 in 2017 and found violations at more than 50 percent of the businesses inspected. In its random checks on 4,346 businesses, 56.4 percent were in violation of tax laws.

In their report to the authority, the YEDDE inspectors also highlighted some of the more blatant cases of tax evasion, such as those of a lawyer, a pensioner and a civil engineer who failed to declare 2.4, 2.1 and 1.7 million euros respectively.

The report also exposed doctors as being among the worst tax cheats, specifically citing the cases of two doctors in Thessaloniki and Athens who respectively tried to hide 3.9 million and 1.8 million euros from the tax man.

Source: ekathimerini.com