Greece Asks Citizens to Bring Home Foreign Cash
- Deputy Finance Minister Tryfon Alexiadis speaks in interview
- Bill to scrap some fines for undeclared incomes held abroad
Tourists observe the Parthenon temple ruins on Acropolis Hill at sunset in Athens, on July 20.
Photographer: Matthew Lloyd/BloombergGreece is asking its citizens to bring home funds stashed away in Swiss and other overseas accounts with promises of a partial amnesty.
As the government struggles to fix the country’s battered banking system and increase tax revenue, it is ironing out a law providing incentives for voluntarily disclosing undeclared overseas financial assets. The legislation would scrap fines and some surcharges for such disclosures. While not providing full amnesty, incentives may also include dropping criminal charges, Deputy Finance Minister Tryfon Alexiadis said in an interview in Athens on Wednesday. The draft bill is being negotiated with creditors and may be submitted soon to parliament, he said.