As tourist activity peaks ahead of the August 15th holiday and consumer spending surges, the Greek Independent Authority for Public Revenue (IAPR) is ramping up inspections across the country, with a particular focus on popular tourist destinations. Restaurants, tavernas, beach bars, tourist accommodations, and businesses that thrive on summer revenue are all coming under scrutiny, as inspection teams strengthen their presence in high-traffic tourist areas — looking for everything from unissued receipts to transactions that were never submitted to the tax authority’s electronic systems.
The Cyclades, Dodecanese, Crete, and Ionian Islands play a central role in the authority’s “THEROS” operation, where tourist and commercial activity is currently at its peak. However, the inspections are not limited to the islands — they extend across the entire country, with inspection services tailoring their approach to the specific characteristics of each region and, most importantly, to the available data on the tax compliance history of local businesses.
Businesses with a higher tax risk profile are being prioritized, with inspectors drawing on both the findings of previous audits and information gathered through electronic cross-referencing. Particular attention is being paid to businesses with a history of non-compliance, as well as those whose declared financial figures don’t match the reality of their actual operations.
In this context, heightened scrutiny is being applied to restaurants, tavernas, cafés, and beach bars, where high daily turnover and large transaction volumes create greater opportunities for income concealment. Also in the crosshairs are tourist accommodation providers, car and luxury vehicle rental companies, businesses operating in marine and entertainment services, as well as properties being monetized through short-term rental platforms.
At the same time, inspectors are not limiting their checks to receipt issuance alone. They are examining whether invoices are being properly transmitted to the MyDATA platform, whether POS transactions are accurately reflected in tax records, and whether there is consistency between purchases, sales, and VAT declared.
As a result, a business can find itself at the center of an audit without any prior complaint having been filed. A series of red flags in the electronic data is enough: unusually low turnover compared to industry and regional benchmarks, a high number of receipt cancellations, discrepancies between POS records and tax books, delayed submissions, or significant gaps between purchases and sales.
Citizen complaints are guiding inspections
Citizen complaints have become an increasingly important tool in planning audits. The Appodixi app has evolved into one of the IAPR’s primary sources of intelligence, allowing consumers to verify receipts and report cases they consider suspicious. By August 10th, a total of 225,551 complaints had been submitted through the app, of which 102,466 were filed under real names. The reports attracting the most attention relate primarily to the non-issuance of receipts, the issuance of fraudulent or fictitious documents, and cases where a receipt appears to have been issued but was never transmitted to the tax authority’s electronic systems.
This last category is considered particularly significant by inspectors, as such a discrepancy may indicate tampering with the cash register software or a connectivity issue between the register and the POS terminal. Once filtered, these complaints can lead to further cross-referencing and, where there are grounds for suspicion, to a targeted on-site audit.
Business closures
The IAPR has already issued a circular informing inspection services of the circumstances and duration under which non-compliant businesses can be ordered to shut down.
Specifically:
*An immediate 48-hour suspension of business operations is imposed when a partial on-site tax audit finds either of the following:
– The failure to issue, or the inaccurate issuance of, more than ten required sales documents, or — regardless of the number — that the value of goods or services for which no sales document was issued, or was issued inaccurately, exceeds €500.
– The failure to transmit to the IAPR more than ten retail sale records issued via a fiscal electronic mechanism, or — regardless of the number — that the non-transmitted value of goods or services exceeds €500.
*An immediate 96-hour (4-day) suspension is imposed if, within the same or the following tax year from when the above violations were first identified, the same partial on-site audit detects a repeat violation at the same or a different business premises of the same obligated party, specifically:
– The failure to issue, or the inaccurate issuance of, at least three sales documents, or — regardless of the number — that the value of goods or services for which no sales document was issued, or was issued inaccurately, exceeds €500.
– The failure to transmit to the IAPR at least three retail sale records issued via a fiscal electronic mechanism, or — regardless of the number — that the non-transmitted value of goods or services exceeds €500.
*A 10-day closure is imposed for each subsequent detection of the same violations by a partial on-site audit, within the same or the following tax year from when they were first identified.
Tax inspectors announce warning strike from August 17th
Following the August 15th long weekend, disruptions to audits and the broader operation of IAPR services cannot be ruled out. The Panhellenic Federation of Tax Office Employees has announced a warning strike and work-to-rule action from August 17th through August 26th, specifically involving a refusal to participate in preventive inspections and to drive official service vehicles.
According to sources, the decision to strike was not unanimous — it was passed by a narrow majority — leaving open the question of whether participation will be widespread or not.
Today is considered a critical day, as those who intend to join the strike-and-abstention from Monday are required to notify their supervisors, so that their assignments to inspection destinations can either be cancelled or reassigned to others. The extent of participation will determine whether the inspection plan needs to be redesigned, and whether the IAPR will pursue legal action against the strike decision — for example, on grounds of abuse of rights.
The grievances cited by tax inspectors include:
– Excessive responsibilities imposed on employees
– Unrealistic and exhausting performance targets
– Continuous intensification of workloads
– Violations of legally mandated working hours
– Unpaid or inadequately compensated overtime
– Lack of safe conditions during the conduct of preventive inspections
– Use of unsuitable or dangerous official vehicles
– Requirement to use personal vehicles for official duties
– Assignment of official vehicle driving to employees for whom driving is not part of their job description, in violation of applicable legislation and with liability shifted onto the employees themselves
– Non-payment of the statutory audit allowance
– Understaffing across services
– The ongoing downgrading and devaluation of tax offices
– Plans for further consolidation of responsibilities and the downsizing of regional services
