Tax avoidance

Tax revenues in March were 24 percent above the budget target, the head of the Independent Authority for Public Revenue, Giorgos Pitsilis, told the 13th Athens Tax Forum convened by the Athens Chamber of Commerce and Industry on Monday, amid calls for more rational taxation that would allow the private economy to grow.

Iliana Zamanika, the corruption prosecutor who has been handling an ongoing probe into defense deals, is asking for new charges of bribery and money laundering to be leveled for crimes committed from 2002 onward, Kathimerini understands.

The twenty largest European banks declare a quarter of their profits in tax haven zones, preferring Luxembourg, Hong Kong and Ireland, reported BGNES.

This was shown in a survey of the British non-governmental organisation Oxfam, published on Monday and cited by AFP.

A recent report by the KPMG, one of the Big Four global auditors along with Deloitte, EY and PwC, has included Beşiktaş, the Spor Toto Turkish Super League's defending champion, in its eight-team study of "The European Champions," underlining the Istanbul side's efforts toward economic sustainability. 

The Finance Ministers of EU member-states have agreed to close loopholes in tax legislation allowing multinational companies to avoid paying taxes on dividends, reported Reuters.

The agreement is a step in the direction of terminating the practice of companies declaring their taxes where they find it most expedient to pay taxes.

Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic visited the Tax Administration on Wednesday, announcing "tougher tax evasion fines in 2017."

"As far as the state can reach, everyone will understand that fraud, theft or robbing the state do not pay off," he said.

An estimated 60,000 Greeks - as well as many more depositors in countries around the world - are worried about the introduction of the Common Reporting Standard (CRS), which goes into effect on January 1, 2017.

Nobel Prize-winning economist Professor Joseph Stiglitz, who as the former advisor to the Panama government spoke before a special inquiry committee set up by the European Parliament on the “Panama papers”. The renowned US economist called for “zero tolerance” against secret tax structures and that Europe should lead the way in achieving transparency in the global financial system.

In a report presented by Ernst & Young (EY) executive Stefanos Mitsios yesterday during the 8th Tax Forum organized in Thessaloniki by the Hellenic-American Chamber of Commerce, the firm estimates tax evasion in Greece to be as high as 6 to 9 percent of GDP.

The lists of possible tax dodgers at the monitoring authorities' disposal are being checked at a particularly slow rate, according to data released on Thursday by Alternate Finance Minister Tryfon Alexiadis.