Football clubs that are wayward in their tax arrears will face the full brunt of the law, the tax commissioner said on Thursday.
Sotiris Markidis said all actions pertaining to tax laws will be taken in relation to delinquent football clubs – some of whom owe the state millions of euro.
“It’s important for society to feel that the tax commissioner doesn’t discriminate when it comes to tax compliance,” he added.
Earlier in the day, Politis newspaper said the tax department – acting under Markidis’ orders – is preparing legal action against the most delinquent football clubs. The department was said to be drafting the criminal charges that would be relayed to the attorney-general’s office.
According to the daily, the legal action will take place against clubs who have fallen foul of their debt repayment scheme.
First on the list are Apoel, AEL, Apollon and Anorthosis – who collectively owe €25.6 million. Apoel alone owe €11.6 million.
Other clubs also have tax arrears, but reportedly will not face legal action as they have been keeping up with their monthly debt repayment instalments.
Back in September, the tax commissioner had written to the Cyprus Football Association (KOP) alerting them to the fact that a number of clubs were not meeting the terms of their dept repayment schedule. This was despite the fact that a part of the debt had been forgiven.
Having seen no progress, Markides wrote again to KOP in November, saying that the tax-delinquent clubs had until the end of the year to comply.
Citing its sources, Politis said the tax department will forward the charges to the attorney-general’s next week. In addition to pursuing criminal proceedings, the department is reportedly considering seeking asset forfeitures for the clubs in question.
If found guilty by a court of deliberately avoiding paying VAT, a defendant is liable to a fine equivalent to three times the amount of the owed VAT, a prison sentence of up to three years, or both.
On social insurance infractions, a defendant found guilty is liable to a prison sentence of up to a year, or a fine not exceeding €3,400, or both.
According to lawyer Chris Triantafyllides, in the case of football clubs not only the boards of directors but also the shareholders may be legally liable.
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