Annulment of Tax Safeguard Measures Against a Former Company Director – A Landmark Decision

In a recent decision, the Administrative Court of Athens upheld an application handled by our firm and annulled tax safeguard measures imposed by the Greek tax authorities against a former company director, pursuant to Article 45 of Law 5104/2024. The client was represented by Managing Partner Dimitrios Piperakis, who acted as lead counsel in the proceedings.
The case concerned the imposition of highly intrusive preventive measures (including the freezing of bank accounts and assets) on an individual, based on alleged tax violations of a company that had already been declared bankrupt at the relevant time.
Our legal strategy demonstrated that, following the declaration of bankruptcy, the applicant had lost both legal representation and actual control over the company’s books, records and assets, which were placed under the exclusive authority of the bankruptcy trustee.
The Court accepted that:
• tax safeguard measures are exceptional and preventive in nature,
• personal liability of directors requires actual involvement and fault, not merely formal status,
• where bankruptcy proceedings are in place, the presumption of fault and urgency cannot be sustained.
As a result, the Court annulled the contested measures insofar as they concerned the applicant and ordered their immediate lifting.
This decision reinforces the principle that tax enforcement must respect proportionality, individual culpability and due process, particularly when targeting senior executives.