The Greek economy has not solved all its problems the financial review Handelsblatt points out. One of the biggest of these is tax evasion: the shadow economy in Greece is estimated at 30% – and is one of the main factors that led to the country’s debt crisis.

“Declared income reached €84.2 billion in 2022, while private consumption reached €132 billion. This means that income worth more than 48 billion euros must have bypassed the tax authorities,” notes Handelsblatt, adding that “therefore the state loses around 12 billion euros in income taxes.”

Aiming to crack down on tax evasion, the Greek government has also banned the execution of transactions worth more than 500 euros in cash. “Since January, the related penalties have also been tightened and from now on they will be equal to twice the transaction over 500 euros.”

An important weapon at the government’s disposal is artificial intelligence. As Giorgos Pitsilis, head of the AADE, explains, the TN will contribute, for example, “to the identification of unusual transactions and dynamic relationships between taxpayers” and the collected data will subsequently facilitate the implementation of targeted tax audits.

The state wants to harness artificial intelligence “and to detect discrepancies between the declared income and the lifestyle” of each citizen, which will be able to be achieved by evaluating data from sources such as social media. “So any resident of Greece who wants to pose on Instagram with sports cars or in their swimming pool might need to consider whether such an image is consistent with his tax return“, concludes the German newspaper.