AFTER LONG discussions, the House Finance Committee yesterday came to some agreement on the framework of the proposed bill designed to fight tax evasion.
Approval of the bill without substantial changes would enhance the government’s tax collecting abilities and improve the flow of much-needed cash in the state coffers.
The sticking point, however, is bank confidentiality and the refusal of the parties to grant the government a free hand in lifting it to uncover tax evaders.
Under the guise of protecting personal data, the bill risks having no real authority. The lengthy discussion prompted European Rally deputy Prodromos Prodromou to wonder why they were even discussing it when it clearly targeted tax evaders and not law- abiding citizens.
The committee yesterday spent hours discussing the wording of the bill with special attention paid to the protection of personal data, while trying to give the Inland Revenue service (IRS) enough power to investigate suspicious individuals.
The bill enables the IRS to apply to all banking institutions asking for confirmation of the current data given by an individual as well as other undeclared accounts kept by the same person.
The bank would then be obliged to hand over the information within 15 days or the IRS director could ask for a court order lifting the confidentiality of the specific person.
The bill however does not provide for the spouses and children of the suspect individuals.
The committee is looking to put the bill before Thursday’s plenum but the general feeling was that it would not be approved.
The government is desperate to pass the bill without amendments that would render it ineffective, as it would mean the tens of millions of pounds in otherwise lost income.
Committee chairman Aristos Chrysostomou said a way needed to be found to stamp out tax evasion without becoming a police state.
IRS Director George Poufos explained to the committee that it was currently very hard to investigate potential tax evasion and asked deputies to empower the state to catch tax evaders.
“The main issue is to have simple and fast procedures with less costs,” Poufos said.
EDEK deputy Marinos Sizopoulos said he did not believe there was a way to eradicate tax evasion.
During the discussion deputies used the term ‘police state’ several times prompting Poufos’ reaction: “Is it a police state when you try to resolve tax evasion?”
The IRS director told the committee that other European countries had stricter measures in place with no problem.
He agreed however that tax evasion could not be eradicated but the government nevertheless wanted to limit it as much as possible.
The committee also discussed briefly a bill banning the opening of secret accounts and making it a criminal offence for a bank to open one.
