Featured Commitment – Greece
Country: Greece
Commitment: Open Data for Offshore Companies
National Action Plan: 2014-2015
Greece suffers from a massive tax collection and evasion problem. This is due in part to the fact that Greece has a large shadow economy where individuals and corporations earn money without paying income tax or are set up in ways to avoid paying the VAT. One study quoted by the IMF found that between 1999 and 2010 this shadow economy made up 27% of the country’s GDP –which works out to approximately one in four potentially taxable euros in the Greek economy going unreported and subsequently untaxed.
In order to enhance scrutiny over companies that may be engaging in taxPlacing transparency, accountability, and participation at the center of tax policy can ensure that burdens are distributed equitably across society. Technical specifications: Commitments related to c... evasion or money laundering, the Ministry of Finance proposed the release of data on offshore companies. This commitmentOGP commitments are promises for reform co-created by governments and civil society and submitted as part of an action plan. Commitments typically include a description of the problem, concrete action... is an excellent example of a commitment that appears to be specific, relevant to OGP values, and appears to address an important policy issue in Greece using open government tools, but the commitment language itself is not formulated in a way that would transform the status quo. By making the names and contact information of offshore companies publicly available, stakeholders could engage in ‘naming and shaming’ campaigns and watchdogs could use the data to monitor and trace potentially fraudulent activity. However, the language of the commitment does not assign a government agency with the responsibility for implementation. Releasing this data is an important first step in inspiring advocacy for structural reforms to the Greek tax monitoring and collections systems. But the release of datasets is not enough to resolve all the issues involved with regulating offshore companies. In order to be a truly transformative commitment, the government would need to elaborate clear activities that either enhance public monitoring of offshore companies or include an enforcement mechanism to deter illegal conduct.
At the time of writing the IRM Progress Report, no progress had been made on this commitment. The IRM research team recommends better linking the publication of this data to policy reform outcomes and creating a monitoring agency to oversee implementation.