An unemployed 35-year-old father whose last 300 euros were taken from his bank account by the tax office decided to take his 26-month-old child and give it to the Tax Office of Rhodes. He said that the 300-euro amount in his account had been deposited by his mother to help him take care of his child, however the Tax office immediately took the money without notification before he had a chance to use it for necessary household expenses.

The Tax Officer, evidently shocked by the situation, spoke with the man and explained why the money had been taken from his account as a result of his debt to the state.

“I am trying to raise my child with respect,” he said. “My mother, who lives in another state in Greece, put 300 euros in my account so that I would have money for the rest of the month. The only account I have.” The local newspaper of Rhodes, Rodiaki, says that the man does not know how to cover his basic needs and said that he is being forced to leave the country in order to meet the demands of raising a child. “Who will they get money from when we are gone?” he asks.

The man’s statements (in Greek):