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The experimental implementation of the measure for electronic seizures of debtors to the benefit of the Treasury will start at four tax offices. According to Chief Secretary of the service of government revenues Harris Theoharis, the system of electronic seizures will be implemented in all tax offices in January.

Thus, debtors who live in the region of the tax authorities of Piraeus, Athens, Ilioupouli and Kifissia will be the first to be threatened with confiscations of their deposits electronically, which will be carried out in less than 1 minute.

By decision of Theoharis, these specific tax offices are included in the pilot transition phase of the full implementation of the programme.

What is the procedure?

A special e-card will inform a certified auditor of the judicial department of the tax office about the list of debtors with overdue debts.

After that, he will choose specific debtors and via the same card he will send confiscation orders to the Tiresias system. Based on the tax number of debtors, the system will detect bank deposits and banks of debtors, and after receiving the message, it will immediately seize the amounts and inform the tax office. The whole procedure will not exceed a total of 90 seconds.

As mentioned by employees of the Ministry of Finance, the goal is to make all those who do not pay their obligations although they can afford it, pay all their liabilities.

In this context, 40,000 seizures of bank accounts have been carried out in the "conventional" way this year.

Who will be the first on the list?

In 2014, the first on the list will be those who owe more than 100,000 euro.

The inviolable common minimum of 500 euro has recently been increased for small debtors, while the inviolable amount of wages and pensions has been increased to 1,500 euro.

Liabilities are increasing

However, as can be seen, the reduction in disposable incomes of the majority of citizens is increasing overdue liabilities to the state at a rapid pace.

According to data of the Ministry of Finance, the amount of liabilities is increasing by 1 billion euro per month, and it exceeded 8.2 billion euro at the end of the first 11 months.