Tax office zooms in on pools
Satellite pictures taken using Google Earth are helping the Finance Ministry to catch taxpayers in northern Athens who have failed to declare building a swimming pool. According to the Finance Ministry, the addresses of homes found to have a swimming pool will be compared against data held by the tax office. Most photos were from the affluent suburb of Ekali. According to press reports, the ministry has spotted 500 homes with pools while only 324 taxpayers have declared that they go for a swim in their backyard. The ministry said it is testing the cross-checking system to determine whether it will use it for other parts of Greece.
