Tax panel delay costing billions
Outstanding tax cases that could bring billions of euros into the public coffers remain unresolved and are gathering dust while waiting for the competent committee to start operating.
The task of the Tax Case Administrative Arbitration Committee (EDEFD), which should have started work in November, is to seek compromise solutions between taxpayers and the state in major evasion cases where the difference between the two parties? estimates is more than 300,000 euros.
Accountants and lawyers have been forwarding such tax cases to EDEFD, as the law requires, resulting in the accumulation of fines that now total hundreds of millions of euros. In fact, an anonymous source from the Finance Ministry estimated the figure for the last 10 months alone at 2.3 billion euros.
EDEFD has not started operating as there was no interest in participation by judges given that the position would be unpaid. However the Finance Ministry now says that the committee is fully formed and will start operating soon.
