The year 2023 is expected to prove crucial for tax administration and limiting the scope for tax evasion, due to the implementation of measures such as the obligatory link-up of POS terminals and electronic cash registers, as well as the obligatory installation of POS terminals for nearly all classes of services and businesses.
The independent authority for public revenues AADE has issued instructions to speed up the relevant processes in this project, while tax-payers will be asked to send the tax data they generate to AADE and myDATA in virtually real time.
This will effectively prevent any business or freelance professional from charging a client via POS unless they first issue a receipt.
The aim is to complete the project by next spring, closing a big window for tax evasion in Greece, where the ‘VAT gap’ has become smaller but remains high by European standards, at an estimated 3.2 billion euros according to European Commission figures.
According to Finance Minister Christos Staikouras, “it is an important development, with a direct and substantial impact on state revenues, on instilling tax conscience and increasing the competitiveness of businesses, increasing tax justice and social cohesion and, chiefly, securing the conditions for an even lower overall tax burden on the citizens.”
Based on recent decisions taken by AADE chief Giorgos Pitsilis, the technical specifications for two new types of Electronic Taxation Mechanism (electronic cash register) were outlined and the specification for linking cash registers and POS terminals were updated. These ensure the accuracy of the data transferred to AADE and improve the encryption of communication between the two devices, as well as ways of handling possible breakdowns of ETMs and device communications infrastructure.
The new system using the Electronic Funds Transfer at the Point of Sale (EFT POS) terminals will not allow transactions via the POS to be carried out autonomously or entered manually but only directly by the ETM cash register when a receipt is issued.
The ministry has also introduced changes regarding the forwarding of transaction data by businesses to the myDATA platform, which are expected to bring improvements for 1.3 million businesses and freelance workers.
SOURCE; ANA-MPA
