Explanations from taxpayers
Those who declare up to €10,000 annually but appear to spend much more to be questioned
The tax administration will invite more than 20,000 taxpayers to explain how they are able to spend more than they earn in early 2024, as the extensive cross-checking of over 3.8 million taxpayers with declared incomes below 10,000 euros has led to the detection of discrepancies between incomes and expenses.
The taxpayers in question will have to offer some details to the tax office, as sources from the National Economy and Finance Ministry and the tax administration state that it is impossible to live on, for example, €250,000 per year and declare an income of €10,000.
According to information, at this stage the tax administration has requested further details from the banking institutions, as in some cases the discrepancies recorded are awe-inspiring. For example, some taxpayers have been identified with zero incomes, who, based on the bank data, show high spending through cards, while at the same time having large remittances to accounts they keep abroad.
After the completion of the additional audits, some taxpayers will be notified of an audit sheet (it is impossible to issue 20,000 audit orders) and some will be asked to prove that there are no tax violations.
Those who do not succeed will face five-year audits, while the taxes and fines provided for in cases of concealment of taxable material will be imposed.
As reported by the head of the Independent Authority for Public Revenue (AADE), Giorgos Pitsilis, a total of 80 million items of data were cross-referenced in 3.8 million tax returns for 2022 with annual family incomes up to €10,000. A total of 440,000 taxpayers with discrepancies were identified, of whom 420,000 had minor discrepancies and may be audited in a second phase.
By comparing declared incomes with the cost of living, as recorded electronically, AADE aimed to identify those who hide their real incomes.
Data from bank accounts, card payments, electricity bills, mobile telephony and a series of information on various payments were compared with the incomes declared by the taxpayers.
