greece tax evasion swimming pools

That would mean Greece does not have to pay the first tranche of 300 million euros that falls due on Friday. script.setAttribute("onload", "setAdblockerCookie(false);"); The countrys revenues have been more or less steadily decreasing since 2010, with the largest decrease occuring in indirect tax revenues. There is a truth that is more or less valid throughout the world: the self-employed and small businesses avoid paying theirtaxes. .filter(categoryPreference => !categoryPreference.includes('0_') && categoryPreference.includes(':0')) Today they are widespread, he added, reaching all sectors of society. It is not synonymous with tax evasion. They discovered a total of 16,974 swimming pools. mps._queue.refreshads = mps._queue.refreshads || []; No one has been prosecuted. In other words, 2.8 million citizens paid a total of 60 million euros in taxes 21.4 each. Service, a Creative Commons } var _regex = /([^=&/<>()[].,;:s@"]+(.[^=&/<>()[].,;:s@"]+)*)@(([[0-9]{1,3}.[0-9]{1,3}.[0-9]{1,3}.[0-9]{1,3}])|(([a-zA-Z-0-9]+. TL;DR:Still trying to figure out what READ THE REST, We thank our sponsor for making this content possible; it is not written by the editorial staff nor does it necessarily reflect its views. The Greek government submitted a multi-pronged draft law to parliament late on Tuesday, scrambling to pass policies agreed with its international lenders as conditions for the release of further bailout funding. Athens' proposals are just one side of the story, however, with Greece's creditors suggesting their own for the struggling nation. This is important. All rights reserved. The company has also provided electronic hardware and software for the U.S. Navy and governments around the world. )+[a-zA-Z]{2,}))/; Athens failed to deliver on a June deadline to place 12,500 state workers into a "mobility scheme", under which they are transferred or laid off within a year. Consequently, the scale of tax evasion in Greece can be relatively safely estimated at somewhere between 6% and 9% of GDP, which amounts to somethingbetween 11 and 16 billion a year. Swimming Pools, Pool Swimming Pool Cleaners, Intex . In a recentdiaNEOsis opinion poll, respondents seemed to agree: 85,5% stated that they consider tax evasion to be equivalent to theft. Greeces Aggressive Pursuit of Tax Evaders Appears to Collect More Anger Than Money, https://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/29/world/europe/greeces-aggressive-pursuit-of-tax-evaders-appears-to-collect-more-anger-than-money.html. The partners goal was to refurbish the yacht and restore its past glory, so they could charter it profitably. return true; })(); The trio use a novel technique to calculate levels of tax evasion in Greece. Seller collects sales tax for items shipped to the following states: . Information systems are not linked to one another, databases are not digitized or up to date, information management systems are not regularly updated: there has been a series of bureaucratic failures, simple things that othercountries managed to solve manyyears ago. license. 'cag[type_source]' : 'Reuters' , "There will be no meeting tomorrow. Kanellopoulos said that in 1998 his team at the Finance Ministry discovered the shocking scale of Greek offshore interests 2,400 companies registered in tax havens in the Pacific and the English Channel. I said thats crazy, he said. More. Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for 1.25inch Diameter Accessory Swimming Pool Pump Replacement Hose Adapter,T Type at the best online prices at eBay! A deal between cash-strapped Greece and its lenders over reforms is apparently "close," but differences over the detailand questions over whether they can be reconciledstill remain. Large corporations cannot, as a rule, use such means to avoid taxes, so they appear to pay the majority of taxes declared by legal entities in the country. He said his own sister had recently told him that she was uncomfortable asking her doctor for a receipt. Its legal, nothing peculiar, she said. In this context, it's not surprising that tax revenue from Greek offshore companies fell 90 percent in the past two years to 345,000 ($440,000) in 2012 from 3.4 million ($4.5 million) in 2010, according to figures from the Ministry of Finance. } A lot of Greeks, he said, listed luxury cars as company cars, a practice that would be challenged in the future. Modernization of the tax administration has been implemented in a remarkable way in Singapore, Brazil and even Bulgaria. Legal entities evade taxes in a series of ways. Offshore companies are used by Greek homeowners to evade taxes, businesses to hide their profits and by politicians for unlawful enrichment, George Kanellopoulos, the Greek governments former top financial crimes investigator, told ICIJ. None of the Cook Islands entities created by Papanicolaou and Fitzpatrick to acquire and remodel the yacht appear in the list of Greek-owned offshore companies maintained by the Ministry of Finance. The ICIJ data reveals that a contractor for the Greek air force is closely connected to secretive entities registered in the BVI. It named two companies as nominee directors of Karpathia. For legal entities, revenuelost fromtax evasion and tax avoidance is estimated at around 0.15% of GDP. 'cat' : 'Markets|Economy|World Economy|Europe News' , Some of the shareholders of the offshore company were managers of ISI: David Adams, Johan Boskemper, Gerhard Mazenier, Heinz Winter and David Tham. For example, if you earn 35.000 euros, your tax will be 1800 euros for the first 12.000, plus 35% of the remaining 23.000 euros, which totals an amount of 9.850. 'cag[configuration_franchise]' : 'Europe News' , Who will be eaten first? Next year, Greek officials will also have to give up on one tax collection system that has worked well so far: attaching property tax bills to electric bills. of Finding Swimming Pools with Google Earth Greek Government Hauls in Billions in Back Taxes In a bid to increase revenues, the Greek authorities are employing all kinds of clever tricks to. Other measures in the bill include a luxury tax that will be levied on houses with swimming pools and owners of high . They include retail executives, shipping magnates and middle-class families. const OneTrustCategories = { He said there were only a few thousand citizens in this country of 11 million who last year declared an income of more than $132,000. . The above information might seem complicated but doesnt have to be. } Now, most of these exceptions have been eliminated and the tax code has been simplified. 'content_id' : '100875192' , Interoperability Systems International Hellas S.A. is one of the companies that since 2003 has participated in a $242 million contract for the production of electronic warfare equipment for Greek F-16 fighter jets. Tax on luxurious living (Law 4111/2013) According to the article 44 of the Law 4111/2013, a tax on luxurious living is levied on the owners or possessors of swimming pools (internal or external) which is to be equal to the product of the annual legal expenditure multiplied by a rate 13%. "Mr Tsipras is completely aware of his chance and will have to take his responsibilities and propose some measures to meet his commitments," Macron added. Show entries Search: Showing 1 to 10 of 12 entries The study of diaNEOsis arrives at a series of policy recommendationsthat include: We gathered the various causes of tax evasion, the solutions we recommend and their level of implementation in a convenient table: Theimplementation of these recommendations is primarily a political decision. }; Harry Karanikas is a reporter for the newspaper Ta Nea. sites. They are a serious disincentive for investment, they rapidly decrease the competitiveness of domestic enterprises, while they also negatively impact consumer spending (sales of alcoholic drinks in Greece have decreased 45.7% between2009-2012). The eyes of the international community have been fixed on Greece for some time now, and today they requested a $40 billion bailout from the EU and the IMF. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. Charter prices start at $60,000 a day for a small group. The cheating is often quite bold. We need to learn not to cheat or to let others cheat.. monkey". Its just that they dont have lawyers or friends to make phone calls to the politicians for them.. All Rights Reserved. Read MoreTime to talk about capital controls in Greece. designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated For years, economists have pointed to rampant tax evasion as one of the countrys most serious problems, depriving the government of money it badly needs. Depending on the type and location of the property, there are some cases in which the financial burden for property taxes might be significant, so lets review them: For a foreigner who doesnt have income in Greece at all, this is the only tax applied. var mps = mps || {}; if (cStart !== -1) { It includes not just taxi drivers, restaurant owners and electricians, but engineers, architects, lawyers and doctors. Some of these definitely could use these methods to avoid some of their tax burden. But who is paying taxes? ", "Tsipras' comments last night that a deal was close were encouraging, but we've been here before so probably better to not set the bar too high," he said, adding, "the divide between Greece and the creditors still remains quite wide.". 'cag[device]' : 'mobile-touch' , In January 2005 Sarah Petre-Mears, a Brit who acts as nominee director for 1,200 companies in the Caribbean, U.K., New Zealand and Ireland, became director and shareholder of Bounty Systems, Interoperability Systems International and Belchamps Management. "While both sides remain in disagreement over some key issues, progress does seem to be being made," he said in a note, but added that as there was still some way to go he "refused" to get too optimistic. mps._queue.gptloaded.push(function() { More than 30% of income taxes are uncollected. Today, however, a solution is imperative, and, perhaps for the first time in the country's recent history, possible. Friedrich Schneider, the chairman of the economics department at Johannes Kepler University of Linz, studies Europes shadow economies; he said that Greeces was at 25 percent last year and estimated that it would rise to 25.2 percent in 2010. Economist Evangelos V. Vasilakos, a former general director for armaments at the Greek Defense Ministry believes that defense contractors should not be part of the largely unaccountable offshore economy. The tax authorities say the software could eventually be used to find undeclared home. But in recent months, the union has begun to fight back, speaking out on a number of issues and starting a poster campaign telling citizens that the collectors are not at fault. So tax investigators studied satellite photos of the area a sprawling collection of expensive villas tucked behind tall gates and came back with a decidedly different number: 16,974 pools. Got a confidential news tip? head = document.head || document.getElementsByTagName("head")[0], mpsload = document.createElement("script"); You need more than that to pay your rent in that neighborhood, he said. The Greek documents ICIJ analyzed are part of a trove of 2.5 million secret offshore files obtained by the global reporters network. According to research by the Ministry of Labour, 27% of those working undeclared had asked theiremployers to allow it. 'keywords' : '~' , We have a basis to discuss them and this is the optimistic thing out of the discussions," he said. "host" : 'mps.cnbc.com', 'pubdate' : '1373441012' , For any amount between 12.001 euro and 35.000 euro, the tax applied is 35%. "We exchanged views and, at the end of the day, the realistic proposals on the table are those of the Greek government. The cheating is often quite bold. } Mark Robyn. Starting January 1st, 2022, there are new "objective values" for real estate that affect taxes when buying and owning properties in Greece. 2023 The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists. For 2015 it was calculated to make up around 22.4% of Greece's GDP which, in absolute numbers, comes out to about40 billion. All Rights Reserved. He contended that the special low tax rate was given to make up for the fact that doctors received very low pay. It used the same registered agent as the Greek military contractor, Commonwealth Trust Limited. } These expenses include thegovernment's operating costs, repayment of the country's loans (around 12 billion a year), pension payments (28 billion a year), salaries of public employees (around 15 billion a year) and, according to the memoranda that have been signed with Greeces creditors, significant annual primary surpluses. The study of different typesof tax fraudcan provide someextremely interesting insights, debunkingseveral long-standing myths. In Greece, tax rates in all categories are among the highest in Europe, with tax collection remaining close to the average or even lower. Mr. Alexiadis pointed out that Greece has only 0.87 auditors for every 1,000 citizens, compared with Germanys rate of 1.36 and Belgiums 2.67. Athenians declared taxes at a local office. A Division of NBCUniversal. Until that point, he said, the existence of Greek-owned offshore entities was known only to a handful of law firms that had helped their clients set up the companies. The next day, it asked Parliament to extend the statute of limitation on tax evasion by two years. Angelos Tzortzinis for The New York Times. Losses from alcohol, tobaccoand fuel smuggling amountto about 0.5% of GDP. After they protested in September, the number of auditors was raised to 50. Non-Dom Tax Regime Read MoreGreece has two options: A deal or chaos. The Finance Ministry said recently in Parliament that two audits have been completed so far. You can find the tax rates in Greece as of 2020 in the tables below: Capital Gains Tax For individuals, if the capital gain is from a sold real estate property, the tax will be at a flat rate of 15 percent. ', window.location); In our study on extreme poverty in Greece, we described a package of measures that could help 1 million Greeksrise above the poverty line. We need to grow up, said Ioannis Plakopoulos, who like all owners of newspaper stands will have to give receipts and start using a cash register under the new tax laws passed last month. What these people have in common is that they are connected to offshore companies that appear to operateunder the radar of taxauthorities at a time when endemic tax evasion is fueling a financial crisis that has devastated Greeces economy and threatened the future of the euro. Both men were named directors of Christina GP in the company documents but they used a nominee firm, Stockcorp, as shareholder. Since the crisis began, this number has increased dramatically: by2013 it had reached 40.5%. It also offers various incentives to make people collect receipts an important step, officials say, in shrinking the off-the-books economy. var script = document.createElement("script"); This means that a furtherincrease of tax rates in Greece would have little effect. When tax authorities recently surveyed the returns of 150 doctors with offices in the trendy Athens neighborhood of Kolonaki, where Prada and Chanel stores can be found, more than half had claimed an income of less than $40,000. Athens secured a lifeline from its euro zone partners and the International Monetary Fund on Monday, but the aid will be drip-fed to ensure it carries out unpopular reforms, including job cuts to shrink its public sector. At the same time, however, during the crisis, direct tax rates increased, and new direct taxes were also introduced(solidarity tax, Single Property Tax-ENFIA), which softenedthe states losses but increased the tax burden for everyone -primarily for the poor. Some of the most aggressive tax evaders, experts say, are the self-employed, a huge pool of people in this country of small businesses. After the 2008 recession, the government placed a luxury tax on private pools. The companies owners are a surprising cross-section of Greek society, from the richest districts in Athens to remote northern villages. Corporate Taxation in Greece. The tax is calculated as a percentage on the rents received. Taxing yacht owners, for instance, only encouraged them to moor their boats elsewhere, emptying Greek marinas. Among the measures included in the bill are job cuts for school guards, municipal police and other local government posts. if (!_qs) { Hopefullythere is room for further steps. However, there are other means of tax avoidancefor large multinational corporations. Such incomes defy belief, said Ilias Plaskovitis, the general secretary of the Finance Ministry, who has been in charge of revamping the countrys tax laws. return unescape(document.cookie.substring(cStart, cEnd)); Thirty-four of them claimed less than $13,300, a figure that exempted them from paying any taxes at all. In the past, Greek authorities derided the countrys tax collectors as lazy and corrupt, blaming them for many of the problems with the system. Why arent they going after the big fish?. But as the confrontation in Archanes shows, the effort to collect taxes has not gone well; having inspectors run out of town is hardly evidence that the rule of law is taking root in the Greek economy. At the same time, however, 35,1% acknowledge that they would readilyevade their taxes if the opportunity arose, because everyone doesit., Any direct or indirect contractual relationship between defense ministries and offshore companies, in any form, should be condemned, even if only for transparency reasons, in a sector replete with corruption allegations, Vasilakos said. } The corporate income tax is a tax on the profits of corporations. Municipal workers and school teachers have taken to the streets of Athens since Monday to protest against the layoffs. There are many people with a house, with a cottage in the country, with two cars and maybe a small boat who claim they are earning 12,000 euros a year, Mr. Plaskovitis said, which is about $15,900. Five days later, Papanicolaou and Fitzpatrick created a Cook Islands limited partnership called The Christina Limited Partnership. The corporate income tax has increased, in the form of anadvance tax burden. Various studies, including one by the Federation of Greek Industries last year, have estimated that the government may be losing as much as $30 billion a year to tax evasion a figure that would have gone a long way to solving its debt problems. In Greece, various studies have calculated that the shadow economy makes up between 20 to 30% of GDP, an unusually high percentage for a developed country. For Mr. Geniatakis, the arrival of the tax inspectors was the kind of showy government move that hurts the little guy but amounts to nothing. Curbingthis phenomenon is a major challenge and requires cooperation and coordination amongmany nationsand cross-border organizations. el.parentNode.insertBefore(s, el); A press representative from the Greek prime minister's office told CNBC that the document was "likely" to be official, but was unable to say so for sure. Despite the tax-paying culture and the enormous fines, small businesses in Germany can avoidissuing receiptsfor some of theirsales, without any consequences. console.log('PUB-GDPR-CHECK all blocked. You own a property (see below). Service. var pixelurl = ((document.location.protocol === 'https') ? If we focus more on the Greek case, we can identify 8 main causes for tax evasion: The first two problems are obvious, and linked to eachother. Over the past decade, Greece actually lost ground in collecting taxes, even as the economy was booming. That kind of wholesale lying about assets, and other eye-popping cases that are surfacing in the news media here, points to the staggering breadth of tax dodging that has long been a way of life here. If you believe you have found an inaccuracy, Latest from Secrecy for Sale: Inside the Global Offshore Money Maze, Secrecy for Sale: Inside the Global Offshore Money Maze, according to figures from the Ministry of Finance, published the names of about 2,000 Greeks, accused of deleting the names of his relatives, Bounty Investments currently owns 40 percent of the Greek defense contractor, the single shareholder behind the mysterious entity was Apostolos Vakakis, ICIJ nominated for Nobel Peace Prize for combating dark money flows, Advocates celebrate major US anti-money laundering victory, Notorious tax haven British Virgin Islands to introduce public register of company owners, Key US anti-laundering law stalled despite bipartisan support. TIL that with only 324 households declaring ownership of a swimming pool on their tax form and fearing tax evasion, Greek authorities turned to satellite imagery for further investigation of Athens' northern suburbs. Froso Stavraki, who has been a tax collector for 27 years and is now a high-ranking official in the union, readily concedes that there is some corruption in the ranks.

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