Government access to all bank account details is 'unconstitutional' - according to a welcome conclusion by Portugal’s National Data Protection Commission.
The Commission said today that the government move to gain access to the bank account details of all Portugal’s residents, shakes the very foundations of banking secrecy and is an excessive restriction.
The Tax Authority wants access to all taxpayer bank accounts from the start of 2017 but the bill has been slammed by the National Data Protection Commission which uses the hallowed word ‘unconstitutional.’
Backing up the objections to the draconian government proposal, consumer protection associations have dispute the aim of the tax authorities which is to analyse bank account activity to try and work out who is evading taxes.
The National Data Protection Commission is quite clear that the government proposal, fronted by the Secretary of State for Fiscal Affairs, Fernando Rocha Andrade, hits at the heart of banking secrecy legislation.
Its opinion is unequivocal, the move is ‘unconstitutional,’ whether by a change in the law or inclusion in the State budget, and the reasons give by the government are not sufficient to outweigh the public’s right to the protection of personal data and right to a private life under the Portuguese Constitution.
If the government insists on pushing this legislation through, the Commission recommends at least that a rule is introduced that prohibits access to third parties to personal banking data held by the tax authorities.
This caveat results from the VIP Taxpayers List investigation where it was shown that many external agencies were licensed to access people’s highly personal and confidential tax records.
Consumer watchdog Deco said that "allowing all or any data to be accessed by Finanças, even when there is suspicion of tax evasion, is a violation of the Constitution."
Marco Frota of the Portuguese Consumer Law Association commented, "nothing justifies this, not fighting terrorism or combatting corruption, that all-powerful State does not leave us a minimum of privacy."
The Tax Authority justifies the move to access all Portuguese bank accounts by ‘international commitments’ between Portugal and the European Union and the USA, according to the Minister of Finance.
“Access to bank accounts is justified by the international fight against tax evasion, through the exchange of information with tax authorities in other countries.”
The government says it is examining "the specific recommendations for text changes made by the Commission," as part of the consultation process, and that these will be inserted only if they do not "conflict with the overall solution."
The government is sticking to its terrorism and money laundering excuse, saying the executive, "intends to comply with the international commitments of the Portuguese State in this matter and strengthen mechanisms that are internationally considered necessary as a means of combating fraud and tax evasion, money laundering and the financing of organised crime and terrorism."
The minister says that these commitments were as a result of European Community policy which provides an automatic mechanism to access financial information from accounts held in Portugal by non-resident and foreign resident accounts.
The Ministry of Finance claims Portugal is behind in adopting the EU rules and that the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development puts Portugal low on the list of countries where State powers of access to bank accounts is among the lowest.
