The Independent Authority of Public Finance explains that the procedure of designating debts as non-susceptible to payment is the acceleration of the liquidation process of overdue debts towards the State that have been piling up for years, separating them from those that definitely and substantially should be considered precarious in order for the state to sustain a complete, transparent, efficient and controllable collection procedure of debts, and in order for the collecting mechanisms to focus their efforts on those debts that have an increased rate of collection
In order for the State to have a debt deleted it is necessary a) to have it designated as a non-collectable one under the specifications and the procedure provided for under article 82 of K.E.D.E. (i.e. The Code referring to the collection of public finance) (the specifications under which debts should be designated as non-susceptible to payment, have been codified by Circular (document) of the Ministry of Finance (1151/ 2016) and b) a 10-year time period after the expiry date of the year within which the registration of the debt has occurred in the records of non-susceptible to payment debts, with the exception of that case of the cumulative character of the preconditions of paragraph 1 of article 82A of K.E.D.E [see above] , in whichcase there is the option of deleting even before the completion and expiry of a decade. In particular:a) The designation of debts as non-susceptible to payment presupposes:
1. All measures taken had been the necessary ones in terms or interim measures, administrative ones, judicial ones and all sorts of compulsory ones against the debtor himself/ herself.
2. A thorough research had been conducted in order to have every movable or immovable property and a copy of the debtor’s record has been received at least from the land registries and the national cadastre offices of his/ her place of residence, professional residence and place of origin.
3. It has been investigated and concluded that there are not any sale-and-purchase agreement susceptible to any breach due to defraud.
4. The investigation regarding the location of money deposits such as lease, salaries, pensions, claims towards banks or other financial institutions, the money transfer or any other transfer relating to the properties of the debtor abroad and the recovery of interest from abroad.
5. Any information within the available electronic means already registered with the Tax Authorities forming part of the natural person’s paper record such as tax statements, registry statements, balance sheets and further finance records, paper information on real estate properties have been all investigated. In particular and with regards to debts towards Toll Authorities the designated Investigator must at any time be addressing the competent Tax Authority in order to receive all the aforementioned necessary data.
6. A plea in order to have penal charges under way has been submitted [given that overall basic debt is above ten thousand (10.000) euros] according to article 25 of law 1882/ 1990 (A’ 43), or such plea is not procedurally allowed to take place.
7. In case of the debtor’s bankruptcy, the seizing of procedures related to the bankruptcy itself has been declared or it has been concluded accordingly, any of which shall be confirmed by any appropriate means, such as notice of judicial decision and relevant verification of its declaration when such thing is necessary by law, certificate to be received by the competent bankruptcy Court regarding the relevant process or investigation of the debtor’s records as kept by the aforementioned Court.
8. All the aforementioned investigations, actions and measures must have been concluded or taken against all natural persons as well without them being able to pay the debt at hand.
9. The confiscation of all (100% and regardless of the time the agreement had been signed between the debtor or his guarantors and the banking institution) deposits, of all kinds of accounts and savings, up to the point that the State and other creditors had to be satisfied, has to be extended further to the actual cash deposits and their content be it in banks or other financial institutions in order to prevent the concealment of properties of the debtor and impose on him/ her the already provided for measures of compulsory enforcement.
As far as the actual deletion of debts towards the State is concerned due to the limitation period, the fundamental legal framework currently valid consists from provisions of The Finance Department of State (articles 86 to 89 of law 2362/ 1995 – Off. Gaz. 247 Vol.A’ or 136 to 139 of law 4270/2014 – Off. Gaz. 143 Vol. Α’, depending on the time of confirmation of debts to be collected) or article 51 of law 4174/ 2013 Off. Gaz. 170 Vol. A’, (Code of Tax Procedure), depending on the specifics of each case. Also, a systematic overview of all provisions regarding the limitation period of claims of the State consists part of the Circular Directive 1154/2016.
