PM to take on tax dodgers
Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis is to take personal charge of a new committee that will be set up to oversee tax departments, customs offices and other state services responsible for carrying out financial checks, in a bid to combat corruption and tax evasion, sources said yesterday. The government is currently working on a draft law that could be submitted to Parliament by March next year, according to sources. The bill is likely to introduce several changes to the way the Finance Ministry carries out checks of businesses and individuals. Karamanlis will head a special committee that will be formed to monitor state tax services and and other related bodies. Another likely change will be the dismantling of the regional offices of the Special Investigations Service (SIS) and the transfer of most of the current employees to tax offices. The SIS is responsible for clamping down on financial crimes, particularly tax evasion, and was established by the ruling conservatives during the previous government in replacement of the Financial Crimes Squad (SDOE). The number of people working at the SIS is likely to be cut from around 1,000 to some 300 as a result of the proposed changes. Karamanlis had made it one of New Democracy’s main aims when his party came to power in 2004 to crack down on corruption and tax evasion. Going into last Sunday’s election, the ruling conservatives admitted that the outcome of their efforts had been mixed. As a result, Karamanlis is keen to see his government make immediate inroads during its second term in office. One of the tools that will be used to help achieve this goal is more sophisticated electronic checks of tax declarations from businesses and the self-employed. The software used for these checks is now being upgraded and should be ready by the end of the year. More than 2,000 laptops will be issued to Finance Ministry inspectors so they can access details of all the relevant transactions of some 800,000 businesses and self-employed persons.
