Seizures: When the tax authorities “seize” the bank accounts –

Millions of households live with the nightmare of foreclosures, unable to meet their obligations as their incomes shrink from the boom in punctuality.

The huge pool of arrears “inflates” every month with taxes, insurance contributions, fees and fines that are not paid on time.

According to the data of the Independent Public Revenue Authority (AADE) processed by the State Budget Office in the Parliament, at the end of July, accumulated overdue debts reached 107.3 billion euros, recording an increase of 2.2 billion euros in relation to with July 2023.

The evidence is revealing as a very ominous picture appears for 600,000 taxpayers.

The confiscations

The threat faced by these taxpayers is that of confiscation of their assets, as they owe overdue debts of more than 500 euros, according to official data.

The Tax Office “lays hands” on the bank accounts, and can even empty them even if they have been declared unsecured.

There are many incidents, mainly in cases of joint accounts where one of the co-beneficiaries is a debtor and has not declared the specific account as non-seizure, resulting in “winging” amounts even below the non-seizure limit for repayment of debts to the State.

What is valid

In order not to get involved in adventures and see their accounts empty, debtors should take their measures and know the following:

• Deposits in credit institutions in a single individual or joint account are non-seizure up to the amount of 1,250 euros per month for each natural person and in a single credit institution. The measure is applied if an electronic declaration is submitted to the information system of the tax administration with which a unique account is disclosed by the natural person.
• In the event that there is a periodic credit account for salaries, pensions and insurance benefits, this account is notified, exclusively, as unseized. This account must be declared as non-seizure to both AADE and the bank in order for the protection to apply.
• In the case of a joint account, the unencumbered limit of 1,250 euros applies to each of the joint beneficiaries, provided that all joint beneficiaries have declared the account as unencumbered. Otherwise, they risk confiscation of amounts even below the unconfiscated limit, since the amount in the joint bank account belongs to the beneficiaries in equal parts. That is, if the amount of the pension is deposited into an account, e.g. 1,000 euros, and the co-beneficiary of the same account is a debtor to the State and has not declared the specific account as non-seized, the bank can freeze an amount of 500 euros, i.e. an amount below the non-seized limit.
• No seizure is imposed for debts that fall short of 50 euros.

The following are excluded from the seizure of bank accounts:

• Alimony amounts.
• Salaries, pensions and all kinds of insurance benefits paid periodically, as long as the monthly amount is less than 1,000 euros, and in cases where it exceeds this amount, the seizure of 1/2 of the excess amount of 1,000 is allowed for debts to the State euros and up to the amount of 1,500 euros, as well as on the entire excess amount of 1,500 euros. For example, if a debtor receives a salary of 1,600 euros per month, 100% of the amount above 1,500 euros, i.e. 100 euros, plus 50% of the difference between 1,000 and 1,500 euros, i.e. another 250 euros, can be confiscated every month.
• 4/5 of the daily wages while confiscation of 1/5 of them is allowed for debts to the State of these beneficiaries.
• 1/2 of the one-off benefits paid by any insurance institution upon leaving the service or profession, while 1/2 of them may be seized for the debts to the State of these beneficiaries.

The Tax Office cannot confiscate a number of allowances and benefits such as:

• The minimum guaranteed income.
• The one-off financial support for low-income pensioners.
• The unemployment benefit.
• The education or vocational training allowance paid to the unemployed.
• The heating allowance.
• The nutrition of a minor child.
• Welfare benefits.
• The rent subsidy.
• The tax money prizes.
• The benefits granted to the insured by ELGA.
• Financial aids given by municipal council decision in exceptional cases.
• Any benefit that has been expressly designated as “unforfeitable” by the legislation providing for it.

Source: ot.gr