Tax authorities enlist new digital 'weapon' in fight against tax evasion on the islands

Greece's Independent Authority for Public Revenue - known in Greece as AADE - is preparing to step up the war on tax evasion this summer by enlisting the aid of a new digital "weapon" dubbed "ELEGXOSLive", in hopes of boosting tax compliance on Greek islands and other tourist areas.

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The digital app will allow on-the-spot access to the financial profiles and archived information of the businesses being inspected and also permits searches and cross-checks of financial data.

The finance ministry and AADE estimate that the tourism industry can significantly boost tax revenues through the disclosure of undeclared income, noting that a part of the increase in VAT revenue the previous year was due to extensive inspections.

The aim is to ensure that the new government arising from the elections on June 25 will have increased revenues that will allow it to more quickly meet fiscal targets and give it more fiscal space for social policies, in a year when record revenues from tourism are expected.

AADE plans to carry out more than 30,000 inspections using the new digital app during the summer, while inspectors will also be able to issue a notification with the results of their inspection and any fines or penalties imposed on the spot. Penalties may include the temporary closure of a business for up to 10 days, depending on the severity of the transgression and for repeat offenders.

Among others, it will allow inspections to verify whether cash registers are issuing genuine receipts, whether companies have relayed invoice and receipt data to the myDATA platform, to cross-check tax statements submitted and view the tax history (including past infringements) of the business being inspected.