Greek government to hire undercover spy army to crack down on tax evasion
Athens: The Greek government plans to hire an army of amateur tax sleuths – including tourists – in a bid to fill the gaping hole in the country’s finances.
According to a leak purporting to list the major reforms Athens will present at a crunch meeting of the Eurogroup in Brussels, the “casual onlookers” could be equipped with hidden cameras and recording devices to catch businesses dodging tax.
“The culture of tax avoidance runs deep within Greek society,” the report published by the Financial Times said. “Tax authorities are not only understaffed but immersed in the logic of book-checking when the real problem lies off the books,” it went on.
Athens’ new fraud-busters would be hired “on a strictly short-term casual basis – no longer than two months and without any prospect of being rehired”, it added.
The leak, a copy of a letter apparently sent by Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis to Eurogroup president Jeroen Dijsselbloem, said “students, housekeepers even tourists” recruited would be given minimal training as their presence on the streets would be deterrent enough.
It also claimed that Mr Varoufakis argued that an undercover army could go where traditional tax inspectors were unable to tread, making a “serious dent” in VAT fraud “that typifies nightclubs and medical services”.
The document also includes a series of innovative measures to streamline and digitise Greek bureaucracy, making it more user-friendly and forcing officials to be more proactive, as well as raising revenue from online gaming.
AFP
