Attorney General Lucília Gago has spoken out against the scourge of fraud and tax evasion that damages the Portuguese State to the tune of over 25% of GDP every year. Speaking at a conference organised by CAAD (the centre of administrative arbitration) in Lisbon yesterday, Ms Gago cited data from the European Commission showing that EU countries together lost around €137 billion just in 2017 due to IVA (VAT) tax evasion. In her opinion, the only way to successfully bring an end to a practice that runs through every level of society is to have mixed teams made up of criminal police, maritime police, tax and customs inspectors, border agencies – even health and safety authorities: “new specialised approaches” that instead of being isolated work in articulation, with speed and efficiency. But for this to happen, parliament would have to pass new laws…
