Next month, the first ever list of people who owe money to the Fisco (the equivalent of Inland Revenue) in Portugal will be published on the internet.
The list is said to contain close to 50,000 names of debtors and is part of a campaign against fraud and tax evasion, a top priority for Teixeira dos Santos, the Portuguese Finance Minister. The Ministry of Finance has apparently already compiled all the data for the list and the system being used is ready to begin operating.
However, there is one obstacle before the list is made public: it has to be approved by the Comissão Nacional de Protecção de Dados, the national association for data protection. Once approved, the list will include the names of those people with debts exceeding 200,000 euros.
The Portuguese government has said it is taking a strong stance in the battle against tax evasion and fraud.
