Press releases throughout the year as well as published annual reports detailing the audit results allow the taxpayers to have a transparent view of the Greek Tax Administrations actions. Also, all taxpayers are given the chance to submit an amending Income Return in a limited time period.
Transparency is one, if not the most, important virtues of democracy. People need to know that they are equal towards the law, including the tax law. Publishing the results of audits (just the results not the taxpayer’s personal data) show people that honesty matters and that breaking the law and tax evading is a criminal act and is handled as such. Though it is a repressive measure in nature, yet it can and does work as a preventive measure as well, since taxpayers realize that tax evaders do not skip punishment. Thereby, compliant taxpayers do not feel that obeying the law is useless and underestimated.
As for the opportunity provided to amend an Income Return, this makes taxpayers feel that they are somehow forgiven for hiding facts from the Authorities and are respectfully requested to prove themselves honest. This is also linked to the Independent Authority for Public Revenue (IAPR) being lenient towards people, yet strict towards problems. No one is treated as deliberately dishonest from the outset but as accidentally misled.
Trust & Compliance
