The scandal of Express Service in Parliament

A new dimension in the scandal of the Minister Papakostantinou and Express Service has surfaced via Mr. Giannis Vroutsis, head of the ND economy sector, with his question in Parliament in reference to the issue of Mr. Papakostantinou and Express Service, which Proto Thema raised in its Sunday edition.

In his question, which was put forth due to our reporting, Mr.Vroutsis is asking amongst other things whether the 27 million euros that Mr.Papakostantinou said are owed to the company are money indeed owed to the company or to its clients who had paid that amount for unsubstuntiated charges.

In his statement, the Minister announced that there is a sum of 27 million euros that is to be returned to the company although the necessary audit has not yet been completed. Mr. Papakostantinou supported that this comes as a result of the fact that the Court of European Communities defines that vehicular assistance is an insurance service and is therefore not subject to VAT.

Mr. Vroutsis, who is a tax accountant by profession, has asked the question which is now turning out to be a landmine: is the sum supposedly owed to Express Service the money that the company has collected from its clients, given to the tax office and is now asking for it to be returned? Because if that is so, it means the money should be returned to every single client who paid the VAT.

Mr.  Vroutsis is very clearly stating the following in his question to parliament:

”In reference to the Proto Thema Newspaper article, it seems there was a partial and beneficial treatment of Mr Raptopoulos and his company, Express Service, by the Ministry of Finance. The Minister has dismissed the article, but there are some questions arising from his announcement. Because the issue is very serious and answers must be given that confirm that the current legislation is being adhered to, since in Law 2523/1997 there is a full description of the ways in which a minister can stop an account being blocked and there shouldn’t be any aspersions cast, we ARE ASKING the Minister Mr.Papakostantinou: 

1. How much do the companies Express Service, Express Service A.E. and Ioannis Raptopoulos owe to the tax office and the Greek state (either in income tax or VAT, services etc.)
2. Was Mr.Raptopoulos responsible for debts when those arose in these companies

3.  How much does the Greek tax office owe to this companies, and in which lawful and recorded decision is that clarified?
4. Is the 27 million, according to what the minister announced, a sum owed to the company or to its clients due to falsely rendered VAT?
5. Was there a decision by the Minister of Finance to cancel the measures against the company which secured the interest of the ministry and if so, for what reason?

Mr.Papakostantinou has not given a straightforward answer yet; instead of that he has warned us that he will be suing, whilst trying to frighten the newspapers by sending out the tax auditors, reminding us of previous governments…