Tricks and 50.000 luxury properties in the Tax Office trap!

The economy team are looking to catch unawares those who thought they would get away because their tax cases would have fallen under the statute of limitations at the end of 2010. They are also preparing to bring skeletons out of their closets to help the work of auditors through Elenxis.

As Proto Thema revealed, a circular is now ready to be sent to tax offices which, by means of laconic and obscure wording for many people, resurrects capital tax cases that should have lapsed on December 31st 2010.

The decision will mention word for word that “the second sentence of paragraph 7 of article 12 of law 3888/2010 is abolished” which means that cases of inheritance, donations, parental grants, dowries, lottery winnings, real estate transfers and large property tax (FMAP) between 1997-2000 will not expire.

So, even though the ministry of Finance promises “a simple and steady taxation system” they have conspicuously passed a legislation which, without clearly giving an extension to the statute of limitations from 1-1-11, abolishes it.

However, since there was an issue of interpretation of this provision, the circular of the ministry now clarifies that the tax authorities can check for capital cases for the years 1997-2000 up to 31-12-2011.

As Proto Thema revealed a month ago, 50.000 large property owners will fall into the trap of the law and will be audited for FMAP statements in 1997-2000 that were to come under the statute of limitations. The "VIP" tax offices of the country have already prepared lists of homeowners who neglected the completion of real estate cases in 2008, betting on the then imminent abrogation of the state’s right to audit them.

Audits have shown at least 14.000 luxury properties that were declared in 1997 E9 but “disappeared” in 1998 FMAP statements. High in the list are industrialists, businessmen, artists, doctors and lawyers with luxury properties throughout the country, as well as 8.000 villas and luxurious apartments in Psychiko and 13.000 from Glyfada to Vouliagmeni, while the catalogue is enriched by Kolonaki, Kifisia, Ekali, Mykonos, Panorama in Thessaloniki, Kerkyra, Chalkidiki, Crete etc.

In total, these “high risk” properties come to around 50.000, the owners of which are presumed to have the financial ability to pay the fines that might be given to them after the audit .

Relevant sources say that “we are talking about rich people, who were offered bad services by several advisers, instructing them to avoid paying legitimate taxes, counting on the image of disintegration of the tax collecting mechanism”. The government estimates that about 100 from the 700mil euros that they have budgeted for revenues from taxes on the 2011 FMAP will be collected just from 1997-2000 usages.