In a tone of some amazement, one newspaper said these details „even included the tax paid on the purchase“, referring to stamp duty.
Mr Zanias has also instructed tax inspectors to examine the accounts of Greece’s 1,500 biggest tax debtors, “medium-level debtors” and 23,500 taxpayers in Greece who receive interest on deposits abroad.
Bankers have said that Greeks have withdrawn money at record rates in the past week, amid fears that it may be forced to leave the euro. Anecdotal reporting suggests about a 20 percent of those withdrawals have been remitted overseas.
In the event of “serious evidence of discrepancy between declared taxable income and accumulated assets”, Mr Zanias said tax officials were instructed to contact their EU counterparts to aid collection, according to reports in the Greek press.
The finance ministry has granted late tax payers until June 29 to reach a settlement with tax authorities.
Reducing the estimated €15bn (£13.2bn) that Greeks avoid paying in tax every year is a key condition tied to country’s two bailouts, worth a combined €240 billion.
But collection rates have not increased, while continued recession has reduced revenues and threatened the government's ability to meet its salary and pension bills. The government and bureaucracy has been virtually paralysed for six weeks since a May 6 election, which will be re-run on Sunday after an inconclusive result.
Mr Zanias has ordered senior tax officials to be ready to report on the progress of the renewed collection effort on July 5 to whoever the new finance minister is.
He is however a technocratic caretaker who will step aside soon. Officials in Brussels and Berlin will want results from his successor. Previous pledges to crack down on tax evasion have not been met.
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
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