By Chrysostomos Tsoufis

Whoever gets burned by the porridge, also blows the yogurt… In order to shield himself -as much as possible- from phenomena… Chalkidas, the AADE enriches the plan it has already been implementing for a few years to… enhance the integrity of its services.

Controller – controlled distance

The main objective of the Authority is the minimum possible physical contact between auditees and auditors in order to minimize cases of corruption. For this reason:

-As of 2022, the tax audit has been concentrated in 4 audit centers in Athens and Thessaloniki
-From 2025, cases of Attica will be able to be controlled by Thessaloniki and vice versa. And gradually, cases of the rest of the territory will also be included.

In the audit centers, auditors and auditees meet in specially designed areas and the meetings are videotaped. Citizen visits to offices are prohibited. Within the year, a similar practice will be followed in the rest of the country.

Digitization of processes

Digitization of procedures also works towards minimizing interpersonal contacts with taxpayers.

Almost 5.5 million have been processed through the AADE digital portal. requests that would otherwise require visits to the local DOUs.

For the most demanding issues, there are also face to face meetings in special centers initially in Attica and Thessalonikispecially designed for the reception of citizens.

Also, the issuance of proof of awareness, debt certificates and tax refunds are mainly done digitally. The vast majority of real estate transactions take place through the MyPROPERTY platform.

Customs

From the beginning of the year, there is a mandatory circular movement of AADE customs officials. Customs supervision has also been strengthened with financial inspectors.

The establishment of 2 customs control centers in Athens and Thessaloniki that will undertake the remote control of import and export documents is in the works. The same centers will give the orders for physical control to the local customs.

Intensification of controls

Since 2017, among others, the following have been carried out:

-800 checks for any disciplinary offenses – Violations were detected in 146 cases
-747 checks on assets with 41 cases of unjustified origin of assets
-355 on-the-spot surprise checks on local services

450 employees were referred to the Disciplinary Board and then to the relevant prosecutors.