Tax collection commandos
Specialized squads will seek out debtors in Athens and Thessaloniki with coercive measures
Pressure is growing on state debtors who refuse to join the debt programs of the Ministry of National Economy and Finance. From September 25, according to the timetable, the centers for certification and collection of debts (KEBEIS) will be activated. The goal is for the two debt collection centers in Athens and Thessaloniki to operate under the same rules in order to avoid past mistakes.
Until recently, each tax judicial department interpreted the circulars and decisions in its own way, with the result that there had been different decisions for the same cases at each tax office. Now the interpretation will be the same for both the collection department and the judicial department. As reported by the tax administration, a specialized and experienced collection staff has been assembled at KEBEIS.
The operational goal of the KEBEIS of Athens and Thessaloniki is the collection of tax debts in the regions of Attica and Thessaloniki. Their responsibilities are mainly the following: the pursuit of debt collection; taking coercive, insurance and other measures to pursue the collection of debts; and the control, verification and cross-checking of taxpayer data by the offices.
The identification of debtors by the new collection centers appears to have advantages, with the following characteristics:
• The debtors and their assets or sources of income are recorded uniformly and are now easier to locate, by geographical area, even if e.g. they often change their residential address, job or professional activity, as a result of which their file is transferred from one tax office to another.
• The creation and development of new debts is monitored automatically and centrally.
• Infrastructures (electronic etc) are created to search and pursue collection immediately, rather than requiring continuous coordination of disparate services.
• Cost and time savings (e.g. for communications or travel) are sought from the operation of one large collection unit, instead of many fragmented across the country.
