Real-time transfer of till data

Tax administration in Greece will enter a new era from 2017, as the use of new technologies will lead to a reduction in bureaucracy, improved service for citizens and the containment of tax evasion.

According to the government’s draft bill on plastic money, next year should see the start of the interconnection of tills and tax mechanisms with the Finance Ministry’s online Taxisnet system. Companies and self-employed professionals will be obliged to electronically transfer the details of accounting documents they issue, regardless of form, to a database at the General Secretariat of Public Revenue. This means that even handwritten receipts will have to be sent electronically to the secretariat’s database.

Ministry officials tell Kathimerini that this clause will effectively activate the long-anticipated online linkup of tills and electronic tax mechanisms with the ministry’s database – the system has been ready since October 2013. Enterprises will transfer data automatically so that every transaction is recorded in real time for the ministry to monitor the turnover of businesses and the self-employed. This will also assist sector inspections being planned by the secretariat as it will allow the agency to obtain a good picture of the market and see which enterprises and self-employed professionals are declaring profits below the average for their sector.

The interconnection of tills with tax mechanisms will also lead to the abolition of client and supplier lists that companies are supposed to submit monthly.

The only concern is that the bill does not contain any details on the application of the measure or the date that the interconnection process will begin. It states that the details and extent of the measure’s application, taxpayers’ duties, exceptions, and the procedure and technical specifications of the transfer, security and processing of data will be determined through a decision by the finance minister.