[OPE] Death and taxes in Greece

> From: adsl675281@telfort.nl
> Subject: Death and taxes in Greece
> Date: Tue, 25 May 2010 21:34:02 +0200
>
> WSJ May 25, 2010
>
> Greece's Finance Ministry Millionaires
>
> By Stephen Fidler
>
> Cleaning out the Augean Stables of Greece's public finances has to start
> somewhere, and according to a press statement from the Ministry of Finance
> in Athens, it seems to have started pretty close to home. Here, in a
> paragraph from the release, some would say lies Greece's government finance
> problem in microcosm.
>
> "According to a preliminary investigation, 70 Finance Ministry employees
> have real estate holdings ranging from 800,000 euro to 3 million in value.
> The
> average real estate holdings for these employees is valued at 1,228,337
> euro,
> while their average declared income is 50,834 euro. The Finance Ministry is
> launching investigations into all these cases."
>
> The entire press release is below.
>
> Athens, 25th May 2010
>
> Announcement: Improving operation and transparency in tax administration
>
> Given the need to improve tax collection mechanisms and restore
> transparency, the Finance Ministry is announcing the following measures:
>
> 1. Replacement of directors in tax offices: The Finance Ministry is
> replacing 20 directors under whose supervision various tax offices
> throughout Greece failed to meet tax collection targets.
>
> 2. Relocation of employees: Seventy financial agency employees across Greece
> are being relocated from their current posts to new positions so as to
> improve the functioning, but also strengthen tax collecting and auditing
> practices.
>
> 3. Initiation of an internal inquiry: ?he Finance Ministry is launching an
> internal inquiry that will investigate 50 anonymous and named complaints
> brought against employees of 31 Tax offices, 10 customs agencies, and a
> number of financial agencies throughout the country. The internal inquiry
> concerns cases of bribery, illegal economic activity, forged documentation,
> smuggling, negligence and corruption among other allegations.
>
> 4. Investigation of Finance Ministry employees financial standing: The
> Finance Ministry is investigating 234 employees who have not filed taxes for
> 2007-2008, as well as others selected based on sampling criteria.
>
> 5. Crosschecking declared income and real estate holdings of Finance
> Ministry employees: Crosschecking income statements and real estate holdings
> will also serve as a basis to discover possible discrepancies in tax and
> income statements. According to a preliminary investigation, 70 Finance
> Ministry employees have real estate holdings ranging from 800,000 euro to 3
> million in value. The average real estate holdings for these employees is
> valued at 1,228,337 euro, while their average declared income is ?50,834.
> The
> Finance Ministry is launching investigations into all these cases.
>
> Restoring transparency in tax collection, as well as the reputation of the
> tax administration in general is essential not only for improving public
> revenues but also in order to instill a sense of social justice and
> establish a trustworthy relationship between citizens and the state.
>
> This project's success rests on the hard work of the tax employees but also
> on the public's participation and cooperation. For this reason, the Ministry
> has established a public hot-line (1517), where citizens can report
> suspected tax evasion and other financial crimes.
>
> Beyond the measures announced above, the Finance Ministry is moving towards
> a complete reorganization of tax collection mechanisms. The goal is to bring
> up to date the mechanism of tax collection, better serve citizens, and
> establish a transparent and fair tax framework.
> http://blogs.wsj.com/brussels/2010/05/25/greeces-finance-ministry-millionaires/

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Received on Tue May 25 19:21:34 2010