ΠΛΑΓΙΑ ΣΚΕΨΗ: PENALTIES INSTEAD OF TAXES (english version) A LET...

ΠΛΑΓΙΑ ΣΚΕΨΗ: PENALTIES INSTEAD OF TAXES (english version) A LET...: PENALTIES INSTEAD OF TAXES: A FAIRER WAY TO PROCEED WITH THE NECESSARY COLLECTION OF CAPITAL REQUIRED TO PAYBACK Dear Sirs, I am writi...

PENALTIES INSTEAD OF TAXES (english version) A LETTER FROM GREECE TO EU, ECB, IMF

PENALTIES INSTEAD OF TAXES:

A FAIRER WAY TO PROCEED

WITH THE NECESSARY COLLECTION

OF CAPITAL REQUIRED TO PAYBACK  

Dear Sirs,

I am writing to you on behalf of the hard working, loyal Greek citizens who feel a great injustice takes place nowadays within our country. I won’t bother you with any claims concerning our debt, but mainly I would ask your pressure on Greece’s government to stop overtaxing the loyal Greek citizens and collect instead the legal penalties from the deviants.

Please bear in mind that at present day the public feeling is that the government overtaxes the loyal and “easy to pay” (salaried, house owners) whereas all the “cheaters” actually gain from such measures. And it is a feeling that I share too, since in most cases there are measures that can be taken to fine the deviants instead of the loyal, tax-paying, hard working Greeks…

My analysis may become a little bit too technical, but I assure you it is based on sound evidence and, living outside Greece, you may not be familiar with some of those aspects. Actually I will suggest many ways to collect money from people who simply refuse to obey basic principles.

I.              AUTOMOTIVES

1. TECHNICAL CONTROL

As in other EU countries, Greece has its own system for car technical control named KTEO. According to the Greek law, every vehicle aged over 4 must pass a simple test every 2 years. This rarely happens: nowadays, more than 2.000.000 cars circulate without passing the test. Obviously, their drivers consider the risk of being caught as very low or are immigrants who won’t pay the penalty anyway.

The penalty is an amount of 500€ for not being controlled, whereas the cost of technical control is a mere 40€. Except from the obvious damage to the economy and the loss of income for state-owned and privately held KTEO’s alike, the above mentioned fact also means that vehicles with serious problems or unacceptable emission levels do circulate in Greece’s streets. It is one from the reasons we have the higher per capita rate of car crushes in EU…

My proposal: by simply comparing the database of car owners with the central database of the KTEO’s in Greece we can locate all the deviants. Those with delays more than 3 months (to allow for sloppiness) will receive automatically the fine and the state will earn something between 750.000.000 and 1.500.000.000 €. Since fines are incorporated in the tax statement, those with payback from last year’s “not so clever” reform will be automatically charged. The rest will be searched for. Cars unfit for use will be discarded and some, even replaced, providing some steam for the car dealers.

2. FOREIGN PLATES

There is insufficient control of vehicles with foreign plates in Greece. Although they should be taken outside Greece everywhile (otherwise why not turn into greek plates anyway), this is rarely the case. Also there is no technical control for those vehicles, in order to become certain that they fit into basic standards, or control of insurance.

This fact is accounted for a strong loss of income for Greece’s heavily hit automotive commerce industry, but also for a great loss of taxes. Meanwhile, most of immigrants from the Balkans use their plates and nowadays the nouveau-riches Greeks buy expensive cars with Balkan plates in order to avoid being taxed!!

3. INSURANCE

According to all statistics, there are more than 1.500.000 uninsured cars in Greece. The majority belongs to immigrants who have nothing to lose in case of accident, or very poor Greeks who don’t have enough to pay for insurance. Bad news is that the annual loss for the state surpasses 150.000.000 €, since the Mutual Fund covering damages from uninsured to insured car owners pays more than 70.000.000 € annually, and the state loses taxes from the insurance companies as well.

To worsen up the situation, Insurance companies announced an increase in fees in order to account for the probability of damage from uninsured car. The measure will make even more citizens move away from being loyal and it increases the general feeling of unfairness…

My proposal: by a very simple cross merging of the database of car owners with the centralized DB of the insurance companies we can easily locate uninsured cars. We inform the owners they have one week to insure their cars, otherwise the police takes over (driving uninsured is a major crime in Greece).

II.           LAND PROPERTY AND RESOURCES

A.    THE FALLACY OF THE NEW TAX IMPOSED

Again a huge mistake committed from our government, exposing total luck of common sense and knowledge of the Greek environment. Before taxing indiscriminately just and wrongdoers, the government should firstly correct the data of DEH (the public electricity utility). In so doing, one will see there is a high number of discrepancies, i.e. houses whose sq.m. differ between the DEH statement and the actual size stated to the income authorities (E9-ETAK) or even at the public office (POLEODOMIA). For example, the apartment I rent is stated 102 sq.m. to DEH, 140 sq.m. to the income authorities and is probably near 160 sq.m.

Via the above mentioned “technique”, the owners avoid paying due taxes to the municipalities (the tax, TAP, is collected via DEH), thus damaging indirectly the state (since most municipalities are actually losing money and the state has to support them).

My proposal: a single comparison of the DEH data with the E9 data (a task so simple it can be performed in 1 day) will locate wrongdoers who have to be punished by paying last decade’s tax (unfortunately older taxes cannot be asked for). This is fair, it will produce income for the municipalities and the state subsequently.

B.    USE OF (NOW EMPTY) PUBLIC BUILDINGS

The center of Athens (as well as other major cities) is full of buildings, stores, and office spaces owned by either the state, or related organizations such as the Social Security (IKA), hospitals and institutions, etc. On the other hand, ministries, universities, tax authority offices etc., usually rent privately held office space. The result is high cost for the state and loss of income at the same time. Also it doesn’t allow for a serious fall to renting costs which will help companies decrease their overheads.

My proposal: there is a study, named EPHAISTUS after the ancient god, by preeminent scientists of the State’s Property Company (KED) concerning the immediate move of major state offices to state-owned property. No State controled organization should continue renting from private owners, unless they prove they cannot do otherwise!!!

C.    GAS, PETROLEUM AND MINES

Greece is very rich when concerning the mentioned resources. According to all the scientists we can easily pay back our debt by proper exploitation, but there are a few obstacles:

1. Turkey: Now that Turkey exposed herself internationally for the aggressive, predator state it is, it is easier for you to understand how hard they pressure us not to exploit what is rightfully ours! Turkey’s outrageous claim can be summarized as: “Greek populated islands (or even Cyprus) have no exploitation rights in the sea surrounding them, but some bare rocks which we claim (against any legal reasoning) as ours have exploitation rights”!!! Unfortunately, on the one hand Turkey was able to convince Egypt and even Albania to ally against our rights and on the other hand our Governors are chickening from Turkey’s continuous assaults. To illustrate how ridiculous is the situation, there is an uninhabited rock, probably Greek, named Ladoksera/Ksourafa, known for the oil coming up from the ground, within 5,5 miles from Samothrace (and 14,5 miles from Turkey’s costline) where they don’t allow us exploitation simply by force. There is no indication or any legal claim (or if they have why don’t they take it to the Hagues?) that the island belongs to Turkey.
2. Corruption: In most cases, contracts for mining and other forms of exploitation are gained by the entrepreneurs related to the, corrupted to the bone, public servants. For example, in the case of goldmines, in two out of three cases, the public servants conveniently forgot to include Royalties for the State!

D.    GYPSIES

Although they were heavily subsidized to evacuate illegal settlements, the Gypsies in Greece still live in land property occupied. The negative results are too many and too obvious to allow:

1. If the property is private, the State pays penalties to the legal owner, since the Police are unable to move the Gypsies away!! This happened even in Athens
2. If the property is State owned (Universities, etc.) we lose important assets
3. The Gypsies create enclaves of illegality. Only during the last 3 months they attacked in more than 5 cases against police trying to stop them from stealing electricity!!!
4. If the more than 100.000 Gypsy families were obliged to leave the illegal settlements and move into proper houses, the surplus of 300.000 empty houses around Greece will diminish substantially

III.       PUBLIC SECTOR AND PENSIONS

There is the general tendency to discuss cuts in the public sector. Without arguing against it, I should press a few points:

1. START BY THE PARLIAMENT

When the things are so tough, as they are in Greece nowadays, the Leader should give the example!!! Instead, our Parliament, and the useless many who work there, has been virtually untouchable. For example:

1.      The Parliament’s personnel increased by almost 100% the last 15 years! There is a study by a pre-eminent journalist exposing the fact that many of Parliament’s 1.400 employees have not even an office…

2.      Furthermore, each Representative is allowed to take into his office up to 4 civil employees. This adds up another 1.200. Plus the “Scientific Expert” (one each). In summing up the Parliament occupies 3.000 employees, probably five times the number of other countries with the same population…

3.      Within 10 years the direct cost of Parliament increased by +100% to 200.000.000 (millions) euros annually

4.      The Representatives haven’t resigned by any of their provocative fringe benefits. Furthermore they use their asylum to act irresponsibly against the law. Last time I checked, we still pay fines to EU, because one of them refused to let her ex-husband to see their child and then used her asylum for it!!! And we pay for many more who committed crimes, of lesser or higher degrees, but never went to courts…

5.      The two major Parties get their subsidies in advance! By using Agrotiki, a state owned bank, the two major Parties got their subsidies until year 2013 in advance (more than 200.000.000 Euros), adding up to the general feeling of injustice and exploitation

6.     Our constitution allows decreasing the number of Representatives to 200. Together with other cuts, we can save more than 100.000.000 (millions) Euros annually

2. IF WE SHOULD CUT PENSIONS, PROCEED WITH CAUTION AND FAIRNESS

1. Multiple pensions: There are too many in Greece receiving multiple pensions. It is more fair to cut from them instead from other
2. Pensioners who are also salaried: There is a number of pensioners who also work (this is the case particularly for ex-military who retire near 45 years old). Those should stop receiving pensions. Funny thing is that many among our Parliament are also multiple pension receivers!!!
3. Pensions as a result of fraud: Recently, a major financial newspaper discovered that a tremendous percentage of Gypsies in Corinthus are blind and another in Leivadia are simply handicapped. They probably threaten the doctors to produce the necessary documents
4. Pensions to unmarried daughters (!!!): According to a very anachronistic law, unmarried daughters of ex-military (and a few other categories) who don’t work get their father’s pensions. This results into many 70 years old women who still receive pensions without ever spending a day at work!!!
5. Pensions to Immigrants who worked here for 2-3 yes only: see point V.C. below to a further explanation

3. IT IS BETTER TO CUT SALARIES HORIZONTALLY INSTEAD OF VERTICALLY

Instead of laying out tens of ‘000 of civil employees, who will never find another job in today’s environment, it is better to introduce 4days work across the public sector decreasing all salaries by 20%. It is much more fair and it doesn’t allow for discriminations according to political views (we all know that the employees who will lose their jobs are the ones “unprotected” by the Parties…)

IV.         ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS AND GYPSIES

The above mentioned groups are probably the worst menace to Greece’s survival. After our politicians signed the deplorable Dublin Treaty, we actually became the “dustbin” of Europe. The Turkey is emptying into our borders every poor soul (it is remarkable how a state so controlled by military and police cannot stop the immigrants, but actually you can even find a speech by Turkish President claiming they will destroy us by flooding us with immigrants…) making huge gains by it (your economists calculated into tens of billions euros the gains of the Turkish economy from trafficking…) and even getting subsidized by EU!!!

The supposed “gains” to the economy by the presence of so many immigrants is an urban legend. Actually the only one who gained were the constructors who use them as cheap labor, but the decrease in building costs was never transferred to the end consumer (households or the state). On the other hand:

Ø      Farmers using Immigrants became lazy: Due to the small size of the average agricultural estate, farmers never actually had the need for workforce. Instead of decreasing costs and prices, the use of Immigrants simply allowed to Farmers to become lazy, spending their time in bars and cafes…

Ø      Housewives using Immigrants became lazy too: there is no real need for help, most Greek houses are practically small (70-140 sq.m.)

Ø      The use of Immigrants as assistants to senior citizens resulted into halting the development of retirement houses. The senior citizens, instead of joining a retirement house, where they can get professional help and meeting people, they remain inside their old apartments, under the care of an Immigrant.

The illegal presence of more than 1.000.000 Immigrants and Gypsies in Greece puts heavy stress on all aspects of our lives and operation as a country.

A.    STRESS ON OUR HEALTHCARE SYSTEM

Illegal Immigrants and Gypsies account for more than 500.000.000 euros cost to our healthcare system. Direct cost of the Illegal-Unsecured Immigrants is in the area of 150.000.000 as stated by Mr. Loverdos, our HealthCare Minister. The 300.000 Gypsies are not calculated. But there are two other important facets of the problem:

1. Healthcare costs of Greeks victims of Immigrants-Gypsies: Given that the mentioned are responsible for more than 70% of the (extremely increased) assaults on citizens, particularly senior ones, you must understand that they are responsible for this increased cost as well
2. Reappearance of extinguished diseases: The statistics are horrifying. 580% increase in HIV positive drug addicts due to Africa originated viruses. Re-appearance of the malaria (extinguished since 1973) due to presence of Afghani and Pakistani illegal immigrants. Re-appearance of the tuberculosis due to Illegal Immigrants.

B.    STRESS ON OUR SECURITY

10 years ago Athens was one of the more secure cities in Europe. Now it is probably one of the worst. Crime-rates are sky-high and 70% of the crimes are committed by Immigrants and Gypsies. Whole villages are obliged to pay private security, whole areas of DT Athens became uninhabitable due to the roaming Immigrants. Senior citizens became prime targets, but there is nobody safe anymore. Latest trends include armed assaults to houses on the outskirts of town.

The cost of imported crime is probably another 500.000.000 euros annually. More than 10.000 Immigrants are in jails or police stations everyday. The understaffed and underpaid Police works multiple shifts. The legal system suffers from the burden of so many cases.

What is also terrible is that the Government thought a way to diminish the traffic of courts: it increased dramatically the cost of suing somebody to 150 Euros!!! So in most cases of small crime or unknown criminal the victim never makes a proper statement, resulting into most blue collar, immigrant/gypsies related crimes to remain unpunished. It is highly unfair to increase so dramatically the cost of justice. Justice is for all, but mainly it is to protect the weaker from the mightier, the poor from the rich! One of the worst crimes of our present Government is its effort to make justice so expensive!

C.    STRESS ON OUR INFRASTRUCTURE

The systematic destruction of our infrastructure by Gypsies and Immigrants is undisputable. They steal everything out of metal. Some examples include:

1. Railroads: Greece’s already handicapped Railroad Organization (OSE) announced loses more than 10 millions euros annually as a direct result of the activity of the mentioned groups. Even the plans to turn the major line Athens-Salonica from diesel to electricity have been postponed twice due to Gypsies-Immigrants stealing the copper!!!
2. Electricity: Whole villages remain without power supply due to Gypsies-Immigrants stealing equipment from the DEH (the National Electricity Provider)
3. Education: Partially helped by the Asylum, the above mentioned are stealing literally everything from Universities and Schools. In some areas (Patras, Volos) Gypsies actually occupy land of the University, simply refusing to leave (by arms), and students/teachers live under the fear for attacks
4. Municipalities: Whole playgrounds have been destroyed for their metal cradles etc.

D.    STRESS ON OUR RETAIL

Illegal trade of goods, mainly practiced by Immigrants and Gypsies amounts to more than 20 billions Euros annually (according to all estimates). The number includes everything from African immigrants selling CDs and fake products to the Gypsies selling everything from live animals to cars!!!

It is obvious that the State loses something in the area of 7 billions euros from illegal trading. But also some stores lose their last chance to survive…

E.     STRESS ON OUR EFFORT TO RECYCLE

Armed groups of Gypsies/Illegal Immigrants move around major metropolitan areas (and more) looking for every recyclable material. In most cases they steal material from the Recycle bins or simply “collect” electrical devices which would otherwise end up in our EU funded (and underutilized) Electric Devices Recycling Factory. The problems are many:

1. Since the result of their activity is not calculated, Greece is actually paying penalties for not recycling enough!!!
2. Instead of recycling in an organized manner, electrical devices end up in either illegal heating places or directly to metal factories. The impact on our already polluted environment is awful.
3. The image for tourists or visitors (Greece’s only industry…) is discouraging
4. The Gypsies/Immigrants, getting used into selling metals, will steal when there is not enough metal in the bins. They steal everything, even crosses from cemeteries!

F.     STRESS ON OUR TOURISM

Tourists’ victims of crimes will never come back. Not only that, but they will also spread the word that Greece is not a safe country anymore. Hotel owners in DTAthens have to hire security when groups arrive, otherwise the tourists get assaulted as they leave their busses! Also the diseases brought by Gypsies/Immigrants were already mentioned in many EU countries by Mass Media or even the government issuing warnings! The presence of Immigrants/Gypsies jeopardizes our most important industry.

G.    STRESS ON OUR DEPORTATION POLICY

The cost to deport an Illegal Immigrant may be as high as 3.000 Euros/each, due to the need for custody but probably due to the ever-present corruption of public servants. Turkey, defying treaties undersigned with EU, refuses to accept back even the ones who obviously trespassed our borders in front of naked eye

My proposal: It is a problem far bigger than the present letter or even Greece. But if you wish us to feel secure and if you wish us to be able to pay back our debts there are a few measures for our Government (which shows a distorted pseudo-humanitarian approach, according to which Illegal Gypsies and Immigrants have more rights than loyal, tax paying Greek citizens…):

1. Replacing the courts judging appeals for asylum to the borders – fast track decisions: Illegal Immigrants come well trained. They all claim either Afghani or Palestinian origin and appeal for asylum. If we locate the courts near the borders they can judge immediately who is eligible for asylum and who must leave immediately
2. Serious health control – quarantine: Many diseases may not be there on eye inspection. Also some take months to appear, if the victim was inflicted just before entering Greece. A 3-month quarantine is an absolute minimum and this time will allow for the (necessary) appeal to be judged. After that the immigrant may proceed or will be automatically deported. Getting no income during this period will discourage further arrivals.
3. Obligatory deportation for foreign criminals – their States should be obliged to keep them in jail: It is unconceivable why poor Greece should bear the burden to rehabilitate tens of ‘000 non-Greeks annually. The cost is tremendous and the usual solution (emptying the jails before completion of the sentence) results into the same criminals being arrested again and again, normally for tougher crimes
4. Dismantling of the illegal Gypsies’ settlements: We cannot play “hide-and-seek” with the Gypsies anymore, nor pay more penalties to land-owners, nor losing more useful public property. There is a surplus of 300.000 houses throughout Greece, they can rent or buy (trust me, they have the funds but “you don’t buy the cow when you get the milk for free”). It is unfair for Greek loyal citizens who lose their houses to watch Gypsies live in illegally occupied lands…
5. Smashing down illegal trading: It is very easy, but it takes determination. Gypsies trade in specific locations and it is easy to hunt them down (actually pet friends are nowadays trying to close down one of the major traumas). Bazaars should be forbidden. Immigrants selling on the street are easy to arrest if you close escape ways before hunting them.
6. The Army taking over deportation: Instead of using expensive charter flights and custody of policemen, we can use military airplanes or even ships. Furthermore if all EU countries coordinate their deportations the economies of scale will be greater…
7. Serious pressure on Turkey to honor (I am afraid the word is not existent in Turkish) the treaties signed and accept back the illegal immigrants smuggled in Greece
8. If EU wants Greece to keep sheltering all those immigrants, it should cover the real cost, which exceeds 3.000.000.000 (billions) annually, and not throwing a mere 250.000.000 (millions), i.e. 250 Euros/immigrant

V.             EU AS AN OBSTACLE TO GREECE’S RECOVERY

Running the risk to sound superfluous, I must say that many EU regulations and decisions are an obstacle to Greece’s recovery. Allow me to explain:

1. FREE MOVE OF GOODS AMONG MEMBER-STATES

250.000 inhabitants move weekly to Bulgaria in order to purchase FMCG or even gas! Since VAT is now the major taxation tool of our government (a substantial turnback from direct, just taxes to indirect, unjust ones) the above mentioned are simply tax evaders!!! Also this practice is unfair for the rest of the population who lives away from Bulgaria (or Albania or FYROM where prices are lower)!!!

2. FREE MOVE OF SERVICES

Since there is no common taxation for companies or entrepreneurs and also no common practice concerning social security levels, Companies simply move outside Greece to either Cyprus or Boulgaria, and then they offer the same services to the Greeks. I can even mention companies using Greek personnel under Bulgarian law in order to avoid paying social security!

3. PENSION RIGHTS

People from Balkanian EU member states, particularly Boulgaria, discovered a smart way to multiply their income: they come in Greece for the last 2-5 years of work (or even they buy-out the years by a more-than-willing Greek entrepreneur) and then they get their pensions here. They are very happy, because thus they may even get a pension 5 times higher than the one they should normally receive in their country, but:

1. Obviously this practice is another major problem for our pension funds, since we get to pay pensions to people who never worked enough to earn the right!
2. The pensioners live (illegally) outside Greece, so they spend their income there. Their families or friends in Greece threaten the IKA auditors into stating the pensioners as living within the borders. There are tens of  ‘000 Balkanians stealing us like that!!!

4. FREE MOVE OF CAPITAL

It is well known that more than 60.000.000.000 (billions) Euros moved away from Greece’s banking system since the present government announced the crisis. Although some probably went to cover basic needs, in their majority the mentioned capitals are the result of illegal actions (bribery, tax evasion etc.). It is easily understandable that the above mentioned capitals could provide the necessary liquidity for Greece’s banking system.

Other estimates mention 300.000.000.000 (billions) Euros as the total deposits of Greeks outside Greece. Unfortunately our government proved totally unsuccessful (if ever she tried…) to either attract legally acquired deposits or to hunt down the wrongdoers.

Worst of all, nowadays they passed a law allowing the purchase of any land property or house, without questioning the source of the capital! This will result into the worst white collar criminals, the tax evaders or the corrupted civil servants, becoming the new landlords of Greece!

5. OPENING UP OF PROFESSIONS

The effort to open up professions looks very amateurish indeed. I must admit I very much doubt the need for it on many instances: we have more Lawyers, Doctors, Civil Engineers, Taxi Drivers, or Pharmacists per capita than most EU countries. Probably transportation was the only real problem, but then again, many trucks operating nowadays in Greece bear Bulgarian plates (see point B. above). On the other hand, the social upheaval added up to hundreds of millions lost for the economy… A few cases:

1.      Taxi Licensees: They are indeed one of the worst tax-evading classes in Greece. Until recently they were taxed as if having an annual turnover of only 10.000 euros, when it was widely known they were selling and buying licenses at 200.000 euros each! Their claim is that they will lose their (illegal) “investment”. The smart way to tackle the issue is to say: “OK, in order to safeguard your investment, we will charge each new license at 150.000 euros, but each owner who sold a license during the last 10 years will pay tax for the (more than) 150.000 euros he earned”. It is totally unfair that when we sell a small enterprise we pay tax (even if it is not a profitable one, we pay “goodwill”) and Taxi Licensees who sold their “enterprises” went away paying nothing!

2.      Transportation: It is already an open profession due to the “invasion” of EU plates trucks. Even Greeks own such trucks nowadays, resulting into the loss of taxes.

6. LACK OF SOLIDARITY

You may not know it, but we spend the highest percentage of our GDP (when compared to other EU countries) for armaments. We don’t do so because we are nuts, but because we have as neighbors the worst aggressors: Turkey. And the EU didn’t guaranteed our borderline!! Due to the fact that the EuroArmy operates under the OTAN auspices (and Turkey is an OTAN member), it guaranteed all other EU borders except Greece’s…

The above is the most important among the many examples of lack of solidarity. The awful articles and shows by German Press are another. They all end up into hurting Greece’s ability to payback…

A WORD OF CAUTION

According to the statistics, too many Greeks owe too much to the tax authorities. Unfortunately this is normally the result of criminal discrimination on behalf of the, massively corrupted, tax office auditors. What happens is that the auditor is allocated by his/her Manager a number of cases and together they set a realistic target, based on the turnover of the companies. Then the auditor proceeds, but in so doing he/she usually gets bribed (not that the Manager is innocent too…), so instead of realistic fines to everybody he/she allows the ones bribing him to escape with relatively low fines and then he/she overburdens the poor ones who were either unable or unwilling to bribe him!!! As a result he/she appears as reaching the target, and since he/she bears no responsibility if the fines will ever be collected, he may even be considered as successful!

To illustrate the above, allow me to showcase my own company. The Tax Auditor  started visiting us by 2008. My fault was that I fell victim to a company issuing fake invoices during 2003-4-5. Since I had all the necessary documents (agreements, cost estimates, deliverables) and since I was careful enough to ask for proof that their invoices were checked by the tax authorities and that they were paying VAT, it was obvious I was a victim. Moreover I was making my electronic analytical statement annually, so, presumably, the tax authorities should have been able to locate the discrepancy (my statement versus the statement of the company) early enough and not after the responsible left Greece with more than 10.000.000 euros gains…

The Auditor paid no attention to all the evidence and he simply asked for a 30.000 euros bribe in order to fine me with “only” 100.000 euros!!! Since any reasonable calculation allowed for no more than 70.000 euros in fines (in Greece even the victim-recipient of false invoices pays a penalty!!!) I declined his offer. So he proceeded with the audit and he produced a, totally unrealistic, 1.000.000 euros in fines!!! For a company whose accumulated turnover over the 5 years was a mere 2.500.000 euros this is totally out of range. Obviously, by overcharging me, he had the opportunity to let others within his list to escape…

The funny thing is that all his reports are actually faulted, due to a typical mistake (he was not only corrupted but also incapable) and every accountant or lawyer whom I consulted laughed out loud when he/she understood how unsubstantiated was the report. The not-so-funny thing is that I will spend the next 5-7 years in the courts against the State and I will need more than 35.000 euros for lawyers and more than 140.000 euros as a deposit in order to go to the court!!!

The conclusions from my case (and many similar ones) are many:

3.      The majority of tax related cases in the courts are dead-ends: If I win the State gets nothing, if I lose I don’t have not even a small part of the amount required

4.      The archenemy of the State, in its effort to tax, are the tax auditors. Corrupt to the bone and largely incapable, they use every means to get bribed and they don’t care at all if the State will earn its due. Moreover, they don’t care if they will destroy companies or human lives…

5.      It is highly unfair to increase so dramatically the cost of justice. Justice is for all, but mainly it is to protect the weaker from the mightier, the poor from the rich! One of the worst crimes of our present Government is its effort to make justice so expensive! Nowadays, in order to appeal you must deposit 25% of the amount under dispute and another 4% as a stamp. Together with the lawyers fees (around 3-5%) the cost of justice totals up to 1/3 of the, totally unrealistic, fine…

6.      If you wish to speed-up the process of the courts, take two steps: firstly all claims resulting from the same audit should be judged together (in my case for example, I have to be in 19 different courts for the audit of 5 years!!!). By so doing you will decrease the cases by 95%!!! It is simply a trick from judges and lawyers to earn more for practically the same case… And secondly, all cases with serious typical problems should be discarded and companies audited again…

CONCLUSION

Ø      We, the “sovereign” people of Greece, feel cheated…

Ø      We feel cheated by our Politicians, because they are largely corrupted or simply incapable to manage the crisis…

Ø      We feel cheated by our Representatives, because they only care on how to save their valuable positions, on how to get the pension, on how to service their political “clientele” and on how to use their asylum to cover their illegal actions (and we pay penalties for it)…

Ø      We feel cheated by our Left Wing Parties, because they are trapped in an anachronistic discussion over the rights of the Illegal Immigrants and the Anarchic Forces who are halting any serious progress…

Ø      We feel cheated by our State, because instead of a just and equalitarian system of taxation it operates on an opportunistic basis, collecting taxes only from the ones unable to resist…

Ø      We feel cheated by our Entrepreneurs, because instead of sound investment they used the capital raised from our stock exchange to buy houses and yachts…

Ø      We feel cheated by our Bankers, because they gave easy, almost unconditional money and now we will have to suffer for it…

Ø      We feel cheated by our Clergy, because it evades taxation and because it is always greedy for more land…

Ø      We feel cheated by our Judges, because they left all the responsible for our present state unharmed…

Ø      We feel cheated by our Journalists, because in their vast majority are involved into all types of scandals, blackmails etc…

Ø      We feel cheated by our Doctors, because they were involved into illegal actions with the pharmaceuticals and medical equipment representatives…

Ø      We feel cheated by our Constructors, because they only used Illegal Immigrants without paying any social security to increase their profits and now our houses worth nothing…

Ø      We feel cheated by our Allies, because they allow to Turkey to bully us into not exploiting our resources…

Ø      We feel cheated by other EU member states, because they protect their enterprises who bribed our politicians to sell goods and services at inflated prices or low quality…

If you really wish to get your money back,

you should reestablish the sense of Justice.

Otherwise, the people already lost its soul,

and it will not respond to any efforts for development or hard work!!!

By George El.Hatzidakis

Commercial Communications Consultant and Entrepreneur

ghatzidakis@fulfill.gr

Jorge@guerilla.gr

GiorgosHatzidakis @ facebook

Γιώργος Χατζιδάκης @ linkedin

HatzidakisGiorg @ twitter