Fines for not declaring business accounts

Enterprises and self-employed people who fail to declare a professional or corporate bank account to the tax authorities are set to face hefty fines.

According to a Finance Ministry decision, professionals and businesses have been given just under three months – i.e. until December 12, 2018 – to submit the details of their accounts on Taxisnet. If they don’t, they will be ordered to pay a fine of 1,000 euros.

The decision signed by Economy Minister Yiannis Dragasakis and Deputy Finance Minister Katerina Papanatsiou introduces a deadline of one month after a company or a self-employed professional goes into business, provided they are in the majority of categories that have to accept electronic payments and possess card terminals. However, for the first application of the measures, there is a grace period of three months after the decision was published in the Government Gazette on Wednesday.

Delayed declarations of bank accounts are to be penalized with a fine of 100 euros, while failure to declare a bank account altogether will incur a fine of 1,000 euros, to be imposed by the head of the tax office that receives the company’s or professional’s annual income tax declaration.

The measure is aimed at containing the phenomenon of tax evasion, which is widespread in certain professional categories.

Source: ekathimerini.com