By Chrysostomos Tsoufis

Having covered – with the bill under public consultation – almost 50% of pre-election announcements of the government, the Ministry of Finance, with the executive arm of the AADE, begins an adamant fight against tax evasion by throwing all weapons into the battle:

INTERSECTIONS: 3.8 million taxpayers who declare incomes of up to €10,000 have come under the microscope of AADE with extensive cross-checking of data. A comparison with their spending will show who are living beyond their stated means and the bells will be ringing. It is characteristic that 8/10 freelancers declare incomes up to €10,000
At the same time, AADE also runs a second intersection between the POS data and what the cash registers transmit. This gives the possibility in a second stage for targeted “door-to-door” visits by tax officials to the companies of the intelligence agencies which result in increased lock-ups.

LIVE CHECK: In the coming days, AADE is launching the so-called “Live Audit”, i.e. the new generation of on-site audits in which the auditor will have the entire tax profile of the company on his tablet at the time of the audit process and will therefore be able to identify violations and confirm fines in real time. Somehow, the images of inspectors with pads and duplicates and pink papers and handwritten fines are becoming a thing of the past.

CONNECTION OF POS-Cash Machines: The new timetable for the “Arta Bridge” in the war against tax evasion calls for the full interconnection of 400,000 cash registers with POS in the first months of 2024. Even later, by the summer of 2024, the 90,000 businesses of focus to upgrade their legacy cash registers.

DIGITAL SHIPPING NOTE: By the end of the year it will have been implemented. In other words, a condition for the transport of the goods will be the digital recording, among other things, of the place of receipt, the type of cargo and the destination of transport. Electronic invoicing will gradually become mandatory.

At the same time, Kostis Hatzidakis is in the process of collecting proposals that will form the core of the legislative initiative that is in the works and will concern tax evasion and tax avoidance.

According to information from skai.gr, under consideration are:

  • The strengthening of electronic transactions through and the expansion of the mandatory use of POS
  • The evidence collection framework as largely the incentives for evidence from 19 high-risk occupations and the incentives for medical evidence and home renovation expenditure have not worked as expected.
  • Tax Compliance Enhancement Framework. The app created had more than 100k downloads but no incentives were ever given. A new ‘reward’ system for reporting tax evasion that leads to tangible results is being considered.
  • Business Expenses. The current framework is characterized as rather lax and businesses are taking advantage of it and inflating their deductible expenses thus hiding valuable taxable material
  • Change the tax framework to close the many more tax evasion windows.