Tax office wiretaps without court approval

30th October 2009

Tax inspectors in Poland can wiretap telephones for up to five days, without permission from a court, it was revealed this week.


According to Gazeta Prawna, the tax inspectors can use electronic bugging to check up on the activities of high-income earners and those suspected of fraud-related tax crimes.

Although the tax office says that the official number of phones being monitored is “strictly confidential”, the number is thought to run into hundreds of thousands, with Treasury officials also having the power to conduct secret wiretaps.

And, says Maciej Grela, tax advisor with Gide Loyrette Nouel in Warsaw, “All information gained from the recordings can also be used in a cou ...