Independent Authority for Public Revenue

The Finance Ministry tabled a draft law in Parliament on Thursday that provides for the immediate repayment of deducted income tax and value-added tax to corporations and individuals for amounts up to 10,000 euros.

The rebates will be paid out without the prior scrutiny of each taxpayer, although the tax administration will be granted the right to perform random checks.

The tax administration is planning some changes in the way it inspects businesses. According to sources, the Independent Authority for Public Revenue wants to introduce online systems also used in other European Union countries which transmit transaction data to the tax authorities at the moment each transaction is made.

The tax administration is turning some of its attention to serving its customers - taxpayers - through local meetings at their convenience.

As of January 2019 it will be attempting to radically change the taxman's somewhat unfriendly image by taking a more personal approach to providing information to citizens, accountants and enterprises.

It seems that every stone the tax authorities turn over reveals major instances of tax evasion. By checking the declaration of revenues through online travel platform Booking.com, the Independent Authority for Public Revenue discovered that considerable revenues had been concealed by hotels and other forms of tourism accommodation.

The Independent Authority for Public Revenue and the Economic Police have launched a crackdown against tax and social security evasion on the islands of the Ionian, which started yielding results even from the first day on Thursday.

The customs processing lines at Thessaloniki Port Authority (OLTH) are to be increased from three to five after a decision to this effect by the director of the Independent Authority for Public Revenue, Giorgos Pitsilis.

Greece's asset register is expected to have launched operations by the end of the first quarter of next year, although not in all areas that it is finally expected to cover. It is destined to include all the properties that each taxpayer owns. Greeks who conceal revenues, properties and other assets of high value will face huge fines if caught out by the authorities.

Tax evasion remains rampant in Greece, as raids by tax officers nationwide have shown that 60 percent of businesses audited have violated Greek tax legislation.

Violations include failure to issue receipts, using POS terminals registered in other countries and tampering with cash registers.

The Independent Authority for Public Revenue has started calculating the Single Property Tax (ENFIA) for 6.4 million property owners according to the new objective values that apply as of January 1, 2018, but only for the purpose of ENFIA's calculation.

The government tabled a set of amendments in Parliament on Thursday providing for the protection of tax inspectors and setting a minimum in terms of debts to the state over which bank deposits can be confiscated.