New digital “weapons” against tax evasion will be activated in 2026 by Greece’s Independent Authority for Public Revenue (AADE). This year, six new digital tools will be deployed to combat tax evasion, including predictive AI models for mass data processing, cross-referencing, and violation detection.
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AADE’s goal is to conduct 72,800 audits within the year and collect additional revenue of €2.5 billion, which will contribute to creating fiscal space for future tax relief. The Authority’s strategy is shifting from traditional “after-the-fact” verification and violation detection to preventive tax evasion identification through advanced algorithms and real-time monitoring.
What AADE’s plan includes
The plan includes:
1. Digital dispatch note and invoicing
2026 emerges as the year of full implementation of Digital Dispatch Notes and electronic invoicing, enabling online real-time monitoring of goods movement. This drastically limits the possibility of issuing fictitious invoices or transporting merchandise with “paper” documents that can be “torn up and thrown away” if goods reach their destination without inspection. Now every product will leave an electronic trail that won’t go unnoticed by audit services.
2. Digital customer registry
Control is no longer limited to issuing and directly sending receipts to E-send and AADE’s myDATA. Starting with car repair shops where it’s already mandatorily implemented, the Digital Customer Registry expands to new sectors in 2026 (wedding venues and receptions, lighting and sound companies, etc.), with the goal of gradual expansion everywhere and market control before receipts are even issued. Thus every appointment leaves additional indelible digital traces that automatically end up in AADE’s database.
3. New predictive “risk analysis” models
The major leap in tax audits, as announced and planned from 2025, is expected in 2026 with the use of advanced Risk Analysis models adopted by AADE. These models combine data from multiple sources (Taxis, Land Registry, Banks, GEMI) or even complaints.
The system uses predictive models (neural networks, decision trees) to “predict” which cases or sectors present the highest probability of violations. By automatically prioritizing them for audit, audit resources are directed where there’s the greatest tax interest, maximizing the collectibility and effectiveness of the audit mechanism.
4. Digital “detectives” and social media intelligence
The integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) into auditors’ daily practice has already begun on a pilot basis and is expanding this year. AADE has already introduced “Social Media Intelligence,” a tool that enables data collection and analysis from platforms like Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook.
As in the case of €300,000 tax evasion by the online “dating coach” (who, as revealed last week, approached and trained aspiring “Don Juans” via TikTok on how to achieve new “conquests” but almost never issued receipts), the so-called “digital detectives” of the tax office scan posts to identify violation patterns. They similarly investigate concealed advertising or hidden online sales without documentation – or even without declaring business activity – as social media users.
Additionally, with special software and algorithms, AADE auditors will search for and identify discrepancies between declared income and actual lifestyle as revealed on social media by taxpayers themselves.
Characteristic examples being targeted include:
– social events (e.g., weddings, parties, concerts) where contributors (singers, organizers) are identified through photos and cross-checked to see if corresponding documentation was issued.
– taxpayers who declare low income but post photos from luxury trips or purchases of expensive goods.
– restaurants where the number of customers visible in posts is compared with receipts issued at that specific time.
5. Digital “risk” profile for every tax ID
By leveraging and analyzing “big data” with heuristic models, AADE creates a unified digital profile for each taxpayer, gathering per Tax Registry Number: income, card expenses, bank transactions, real estate transactions, Airbnb rentals, and social media data.
Algorithms analyze profiles to identify deviations, such as taxpayers who declare low income but make travel and entertainment expenses that cannot be justified. These algorithms also incorporate tax compliance indicators (“white” tax record) or violations, deviations, and complaints connected to potential auditees.
Simultaneously, AADE calculates and announces annually the average annual turnover per Activity Code, so businesses with significant deviations know in advance they’re being targeted for audits, enhancing self-compliance across entire market sectors.
6. Electronic business chamber with live monitoring
Another innovative audit tool for AADE is leveraging geolocation (GPS) and real-time movement data (Live Traffic) from Google Maps.
With the new data, AADE’s “Business Chamber,” housed on Amphiaraus Street in Kolonaki, transforms into a “digital headquarters.”
Through Google Maps Live Traffic, for example, auditors monitor customer traffic in real-time and identify businesses showing high traffic but low receipts. They essentially leverage and record real-time data from smartphone users in an area to investigate why, on the exact same days and hours, local business cash registers “fall silent” and show zero receipt data transmission to AADE.
Additionally, new AI applications detect if, for example, ten people post photos from a restaurant the same night while receipts don’t correspond to this consumption, as well as data from online booking platforms for villas and VIP events without tax IDs or documentation.
If, for instance, in a tourist area data shows crowds for a summer event, but cash registers remain “silent” in the myDATA system, a “red alarm” sounds and on-site inspection is activated. This method transforms random checks into targeted, “surgical” interventions.
Where audits focus in 2026
Based on AADE Administrator’s new decision (A. 1190/2025), the 2026 operational plan provides for a targeted audit “storm” covering almost the entire spectrum of economic activity.
– 26,000 tax audits (full and partial) by audit services of the General Directorate of Tax Functions for income tax disclosure
– 25,400 partial on-site audits by Audit Centers (EL.KE.), tax offices, and Tax Service Units, aimed at identifying omissions or inaccurate fulfillment of tax obligations.
– 18,000 targeted audits by Revenue Research and Assurance Services (YEDDE) for VAT detection and disclosure.
– at least 2,500 asset change audits (capital taxation) for property transfers, parental provisions, or donations of assets (shares, capital, etc.).
– 900 special investigations for major tax evasion cases, i.e., audits of “big fish” tax evaders.
Special priority is given, according to AADE’s new guidelines, to “live” cases before they expire: as 80% of audits will concern the last five years, while at least 75% will focus on the last three years, for which declaration submission deadlines have passed.
Developments in 2025
The extent and rapid spread of new digital tools is revealed by AADE’s accountability data. For 2025 alone, new actions included:
1. Digital Dispatch Note: since implementation began gradually on 1/6/2025, 181,628,354 transport documents have been issued (dispatch notes and invoices with transport indication)
2. Digital Customer Registry: started at year-end for the vehicle sector (repair shops, etc.) and to date 17,465,175 transactions from 27,273 businesses have been recorded.
3. Electronic invoicing for B2G (business to Government) transactions: started in September and by year-end 32,545 documents were issued by 10,500 businesses.
4. On-site audits: using new digital audit tools, over 171,000 on-site tax, customs, and chemical field audits were conducted to combat tax evasion, smuggling, and fraud, identifying over 530,000 violations, while due diligence measures were applied to 1,380 businesses.
5. Monthly VAT declarations for newly established businesses with simple bookkeeping: by year-end 688,703 initial monthly submissions were filed by 146,142 newly established businesses.
6. Digitization of border customs procedures: unified digital application for recording over 6,300,000 incoming and outgoing trucks and buses at all land border stations. Digital cash declaration at 42 entry and exit points.
7. Customs reorganization: establishment of Attica Customs Audit Center (TEK) and new Piraeus and Western Attica Customs: Centralization of AADE’s customs audit services, combined with modern tools, enhanced transparency, acceleration, and effectiveness of customs controls. The TEK processed over 352,000 import documents and EFK declarations centrally, with pending rates at end-2025 reaching only 0.1% for import documents and 0.9% for EFK declarations.
Using digital tools also means improved services for citizens and businesses.
For example, according to AADE’s 2025 accountability data:
1. my1521- The new AADE communication portal. The new 1521 taxpayer service call center launched after summer and has received and served over 305,000 calls, reducing average call waiting time for taxpayers to 16 seconds in the last quarter.
2. 2,410,232 electronic requests were served, submitted digitally through the “My Requests” platform. Pending requests decreased by 54% compared to end-2024 and were limited to 2.5% of total submitted requests, versus 6.11% at end-2024.
3. “End to end” business data changes for individuals and legal entities for activity code and VAT regime changes: since application launch, 41,481 transactions were completed digitally.
4. Extension of myAADEapp to businesses and legal entities for immediate and easy access to digital services from mobile: to date 771,000 taxpayers have downloaded the app, including 221,000 in 2025.
5. myDATAapp: to date over 165,000 taxpayers have downloaded AADE’s free app for issuing documents and dispatch notes, and monitoring business income-expenses via portable devices.
6. Pre-clearing 1.3 million income tax declarations for 1.5 million taxpayers and automated submission of 739,576 declarations for 835,766 individuals. 2025 opened earlier than ever. Specifically, income declarations for legal and natural persons opened on 14/3/2025 and 17/3/2025 respectively. A total of 6.7 million individual income tax declarations were submitted on time, corresponding to over 8.9 million individuals, and 362,682 legal entity declarations. Overall, over 7 million declarations were submitted on time in 2025.
7. Digital submission and clearing of deceased persons’ income tax declarations: 90,720 declarations were submitted using the new procedure.
8. Digitization and simplification of export procedures for 21,630 small shipments valued up to €1,000.
9. Digital automated tax number assignment to 42,000 minors, increasing the total number of minors who have automatically received tax numbers to 1.17 million.
10. Automatic Taxpayer Registry updates for corporations, limited liability companies, and private companies through connection with the General Commercial Registry (GEMI). In 2025, 103,061 automated changes were made for 32,787 tax numbers.
11. myPROPERTY: During 2025, 635,065 digital declarations were submitted for all categories and over €760 million was collected.
12. New method for submitting contractor or subcontractor data for technical projects above €6,000. In 2025, 99,580 contractor/subcontractor data declarations were submitted digitally using the new procedure.
13. Digital submission of tugboat and fishing vessel exploitation fee declarations: for tax year 2024 (2025 declarations), 7,330 declarations were submitted digitally.
14. Digital end-to-end inclusion under article 5G provisions regarding special taxation of employment and business income for individuals transferring tax residence to Greece. Since the application opened, 54% of applications were completed digitally end-to-end.
