Tax Office closed on Thursday 15 May from 12:30 until end of day

Work Stoppage Announced by the Employees' Union at Corfu Tax Office (DOY)

The Employees’ Union at the Corfu Tax Office has decided to hold a work stoppage this coming Thursday, May 15, from 12:30 p.m. until the end of the working day, as an expression of opposition to the apparent intention of the Director of the Independent Authority for Public Revenue (AADE) to abolish local tax offices (DOY) and transfer responsibilities to central services.

In their announcement, they state the following:

We inform the local community and local authorities that, following a decision by the national union (POE DOY) for rolling work stoppages across the country by regional unit, we, the employees of the Corfu Tax Office, will participate in a work stoppage on Thursday, May 15, from 12:30 p.m. until the end of the working day.

Additionally, starting June 1, in line with the same Federation decision, we will abstain from conducting preventive inspections outside official working hours.

The motivation behind the above actions is our deep concern over the apparent intention of the AADE Director to “centralise” provincial tax offices and transfer their responsibilities. He has already begun touring local services. In Athens and Thessaloniki, various functions and responsibilities of individual tax office departments have already been removed and transferred to separate massive central services (e.g., KEFODE, KEFOK, KEBEIS, etc.), each with a different supervisor, located in different areas and buildings of the cities, along with the corresponding relocation of staff.
Any similar application at the regional level is something we unanimously oppose.

We note that the Corfu Tax Office falls under the Tax Region of Patras.

• We oppose this as employees because such plans threaten a radical change in our working conditions, maybe not immediately but certainly in the near future, as everything can be changed at any time by a single decision of the AADE Director, who has the legal authority to do so, regardless of any previous assurances.

• We oppose this as both employees and citizens because fragmentation of duties and services leads to employees with limited subject knowledge, and services that struggle with coordination and performance, ultimately harming the public.

• We oppose this as taxpaying citizens, because in our work experience with the new centralised services, we see the dysfunctions and delays that cause hardship to the public. Just imagine the need to communicate (certainly not in person) with a service outside the island.

• We oppose this as residents of the island of Corfu, which has long been deprived of public services and suffers from staff shortages in many areas (hospitals, schools, security forces, etc.).

• We oppose this because it violates Article 101 of the Greek Constitution, which stipulates a decentralised system of state administration, with general decision-making powers assigned to regional state bodies, and an obligation to take special care of island areas. Let us recall that in 1995, the Corfu Tax Office was split into DOY A’ and B’, which—despite issues—helped citizens be better served.

• We also oppose this because, as employees, we share the concerns of the professionals in our local community, who will face greater difficulty in carrying out their duties and resolving matters, due to the lack of direct contact—ultimately at the expense of their clients and the citizens of our island.

For all these reasons, we call on our colleagues, the local community, and local institutions to stand with us in order to prevent the implementation of plans that would lead to the abolition or downgrading of the Corfu Tax Office.

FOR THE BOARD

President: Elias Tampakis
Secretary: Georgia Pandis

ELENI KORONAKI