Pay your taxes or expect a call from the taxman

In the first four months of 2015, the tax authorities have raised some €28 million, just by calling late payers to remind them to pay their taxes.

Reportedly, sophisticated software selected 21,055 companies that should be contacted as they are predicted to respond favourable. They received a call from the taxman reminding them to pay their taxes so that they could avoid interest for late payment and the cost of a recovery by a bailiff.

This is the first time that the tax authorities call defaulting taxpayers. At this moment in time, it only relates to VAT and wage withholding tax, but the Ministry of Finance anticipates that they will be using that system to recover income tax from individuals as well.