A barrage of notifications of seizures sent out to taxpayers

About 1,800 notices sent out daily

Greek authorities have dispatched 1,800 seizure notices to citizens who failed to pay overdue debts or bank loans worth 215 billion Euros. The General Secretariat of Public Revenues has been sending 2,000 notices on a daily basis to taxpayers in arrears, according to newspaper ‘Efimerida ton Syntakton’. A total of 4 million taxpayers have outstanding debts to the Tax Office, while 3 million citizens are estimated to have fallen behind in bank loan payments, the majority of which are house or consumer loans. The government fears that the combination of lagging bank loan payments, tax obligations and social security contributions could lead to a new spike in taxpayers opting to request inclusion in the debt settlement scheme. According to reports, two out of three citizens already in the dent settlement scheme have been excluded, while taxpayers included in the special 100-instalment scheme have bee dropped. Representatives of small businesses are asking for a second chance to settle their outstanding debts. The government and its creditors have yet to reach agreement on a plan to manage private debt, a situation that will inevitably lead to more seizures and properties being auctioned off.