eKathimerini — Monitoring authorities have recently turned their spotlight on vehicles circulating in Greece with foreign plates, as in the last few months the phenomenon of Greeks choosing to register their cars in other countries to avoid excessive taxation has grown considerably.
Inspectors of the Customs Department and of the General Secretariat for Public Revenue confiscated six vehicles last Saturday, bringing the total to 17 in the last few days, following checks performed outside nightclubs and a private school in Thessaloniki. In their majority, the vehicles had Bulgarian plates but their owners were unable to produce the necessary documents that would prove they are eligible to use these cars in Greece.
Competent authorities have increased inspections in order to locate people who illegally circulate with foreign plates, as 477 violations were reported in the first eight months of the year after 5,102 inspections to foreign-plate vehicles.
Sources from the General Secretariat for Public Revenue stressed that the problem is particularly big in northern Greece, with figures in Thessaloniki showing that the violation rate exceeds 50 percent, as owners wish to take advantage of the lower road tax in neighbouring Bulgaria compared to Greece.
