Any Cypriot who has money deposited abroad and considers that only he and his bank know it, is mistaken, if we take into account that the Tax Department has access to 80,000 Cypriot bank accounts in 40-50 countries.
These include EU member states, Britain, the US and others.
The above emerges from what the Assistant Tax Officer, Sotiris Markidis, stated yesterday before the Parliamentary Committee on Institutions, in the context of the discussion of a bill for the Pothen Esches of the President of the Republic, the ministers and the deputies.
Mr. Markidis, who is also a member of the Council that controls the Pothen Esches of politically exposed persons (PEP), informing the deputies also mentioned the following:
“As a Department of Taxation, we exchange information with about 40-50 countries, so we know about all the Cypriot taxpayers who have deposits, e.g. in the USA, Britain, Greece etc.
“We know the deposits that the citizens have,” he added, adding:
“It's a question of whether this information can be used for purposes other than taxation.” He clarified that “the above accounts belong to citizens and not to companies, which can, as he explained, be controlled in another way”.
The Department, he said, has a list of 80,000 lines concerning 80,000 different Cypriot bank accounts abroad.
Commenting on MPs' suggestion for control of the property acquired by politicians by inheritance, Mr. Markidis pointed out that if such a thing is adopted, it is as if control of Pothen Esches is also carried out on the parents of controlled politicians.
He also stressed that the declaration (Pothen Esches) must be submitted electronically, explaining that a proper software can send a signal as to where the control should be focused, something that can not be done when the declarations are submitted in printed form. “Thousands of people cannot be checked with the glue,” he said.
He also pointed out that access to data and information is an important controlling factor. “Without access to information, no form of control can be carried out,” he said, explaining that he meant access to the government's information warehouse, where all the data is there (Land Registry, TOM, tax department). He further stated that the access to information in the banks is also an important control element. Without this information, an audit cannot be completed, especially in matters of money laundering, he said. He explained that this control can be carried out by amending the legislation.
However, even with the above data, it does not mean that full control of assets can be exercised since the state does not have access, for example, to the Land Registries of the various countries, in order to check whether the auditee owns real estate.
The president of the Council, Doros Ioannidis, expressed reservations about the publication of the Pothen Esches statements, indicating that the purpose of the legislation should not be the persecution of the deputies but their protection. The assets cannot be north to anyone and cause gossip, said Mr. Ioannidis, who noted that the important thing is if there is a significant differentiation of someone's property from the time he took over until the audit is carried out. Regarding the shares held by politicians, he pointed out that from one share one can have a large income while at the same time thousands of shares in the stock market are not worth anything. At the same time, he stated that the Council finds problems in the audits it conducts and imposes fines.
Asked by the chairman of the Committee, Dimitris Dimitriou, to answer whether it is possible for a politician (minister, member of parliament, etc.) to sign a responsible statement that he has no objection to the control of his bank accounts, the chairman of the Council said , that if the MP at the time of giving the assurance knows that based on the provisions of the legislation will be able to disclose the specific information, there is no problem.
That audit can be carried out, by amending the legislation, he said.
The computerization process has progressed
The chairman of the Institutions Committee stated that from what the members of the Council said, it seems that they have advanced the process of computerization of the statement (Pothen Esches) in order to make it easier to compare the statements made, something that the Commission intends to adopt.
“We will contact the Undersecretary of Innovation to ask what stage this process is at and it seems that the statement made under the other legislation is complete, comprehensive, and the first thought we made today was to adopt it as it is.” , added Mr. Dimitriou.
The chairman and the members of the Committee (except for Mr. Themistocleous, who has reservations about the publication of the statements) declare their readiness to adopt all the suggestions that will lead to an effective control of their assets and especially the issue of illicit enrichment.
Irini Charalambidou and Andreas Passiourtidis insisted on confiscating the money held by politicians abroad without declaring it. MP Alexandra Attalidou stressed the need to link the declaration with the tax so that no one can escape.
Philenews
