Greece’s finance ministry is determined to bring in billions of revenues. Whether taxpayers can afford to pay them or not. Therefore the confiscation procedure will change and the long grabbing arm of the tax office will seize outstanding debts from the debtor’s bank account within two weeks. And without further notice… to the debtor.
According to economic news Capital.gr, the tax office will notify the bank of the debt to be paid and the bank will transfer the money to the tax office without informing the bank account holder. Out of fear, the account owner would withdraw the money he had deposit in the bank in good faith.
Exempted from confiscation are salary and pensions bank accounts provided the account holders have declared them as such. Bank deposits below 1,000 euro will not be confiscated.
The new confiscation mechanism will go into effect within the next two weeks.
Target of the Finance Ministry is to collect this year 2.2 billion euro from outstanding debts. the total amount of outstanding debts to the state (several taxes, insurance funds) is estimated to be 63 billion euro.
I reckon to have reported about this stealing option last autumn, it was probably when the automatic confiscation was accepted in the Parliament last December.
Got €1,038 in the bank and you owe to the state €300? Good luck, then!
PS No, the tax office will not search under your mattress for cash unless you have declared your home as your company’s headquarter. Neither will the tax office seize savings accounts in Switzerland, Luxembourg or Cayman because that’s mission impossible.
