Greece has fundamentally digitized its system for monitoring and preventing tax evasion in recent years.
In recent years, Greece has fundamentally digitalised its control system against tax evasion. The most important current tools are:
myDATA – Real-Time Electronic Bookkeeping
Via the myDATA platform (my Digital Accounting and Tax Application) of AADE, businesses continuously transmit summaries of vouchers, characterisations of revenue and expenses, and payroll data electronically. On this basis, VAT returns and other declarations are automatically pre-filled.
Mandatory Electronic Invoicing (E-Invoicing)
For transactions between businesses (B2B), electronic invoicing through an approved provider or the free AADE application “timologio” is becoming mandatory – the start date originally set for 2 February 2026 for large enterprises (gross revenue in 2023 over €1,000,000) was postponed by one month, to 2 March 2026; for all other businesses, 1 October 2026 continues to apply. At the same time, the digital delivery note system (Ψηφιακό Δελτίο Αποστολής) is being expanded, which also allows the transport of goods to be tracked electronically and reported to AADE.
Linked Cash Registers and Card Terminals
Cash registers and card payment terminals used by retailers and service providers must be electronically connected to AADE, so that transactions are recorded in real time; since 2024, most businesses have also been obliged to keep a card terminal available.
Cash Payment Ceiling
Cash transactions between businesses and consumers, and between businesses, are only permitted up to an amount of €500; payments above this must be made without cash (card, bank transfer). Greece thus has one of the lowest cash ceilings within the EU.
Asset Reconciliation and Risk Analysis
AADE reconciles declared income against asset data (real estate, vehicles, securities accounts, etc.) and, increasingly automatically, against account movement data from credit institutions (including via the BANCAPP system), and applies a risk-based control system (“Risk Analysis”) in order to focus audits specifically on taxpayers who stand out. Through automatic international exchange of information (including the Common Reporting Standard and the various successive expansions of the EU Directive on Administrative Cooperation), AADE also continuously receives account information from a large number of states.
Control of Transfer Pricing and Offshore Structures
The rules governing the control of transfer pricing between related businesses, and of transactions with businesses in states with privileged tax status, have subsequently been tightened several times and integrated into the Income Tax Code and the Tax Procedure Code.
Enforcement and Precautionary Measures
In the case of tax debts owed to the state, AADE may continue to order account freezes, attachments and the securing of assets; at the same time – as set out in the “Tax Offences” section of the economic criminal law package – there are expanded possibilities for suspending criminal consequences where a payment plan by instalments is agreed and observed.
FAQ
Transactions between businesses, as well as salary payments, must be conducted through business bank accounts; the banks holding these accounts are required to provide the tax administration (ΑΑΔΕ) with information on the transactions. This obligation, originally introduced in 2011, remains in place at its core, but has been considerably expanded by today's near-complete electronic traceability via myDATA and ΑΑΔΕ's banking interfaces.
The tax administration continues to maintain an electronic asset register (covering, among other things, real estate, vehicles, watercraft and aircraft, shares, funds and company interests), which serves as a basis for income and asset checks and for reconciliation against declared income (the “Pothen Esches” principle).
Control today takes place very largely automatically and in real time via myDATA, supplemented by risk-based electronic control programmes operated by ΑΑΔΕ, which automatically detect anomalies and discrepancies (including by cross-checking POS data, banking data and invoice data).
All ministries and other state bodies are electronically networked with the tax administration and transmit information of economic relevance (e.g. remuneration, severance payments, receivables). This principle has been considerably expanded through the progressive digitalisation of the Greek state (including via the gov.gr portal).
Beyond the obligation to issue electronic invoices above certain amounts, introduced in 2011, the comprehensive myDATA obligation now applies to practically all businesses, together with the phased introduction of mandatory electronic B2B invoicing (see the note above). The tax authorities have direct, largely automated access to the electronic data.
The threshold for permissible cash payments has been lowered several times since its original introduction (2011: €1,500); under current law, the limit for cash transactions between the business and private spheres is considerably lower. For the exact current limit, we recommend checking the currently applicable version of the Tax Procedure Code (Law 4174/2013), as this threshold has been repeatedly adjusted. Above the limit, payments must be made by card, bank transfer or crossed cheque.
Rules on the protection of cooperating witnesses and whistleblowers continue to apply, benefiting, among others, persons who contribute to uncovering corruption and tax evasion in the public service; these were most recently supplemented by the EU Whistleblower Directive (implemented by Law 4990/2022).
In the case of tax debts, extensive enforcement options continue to exist, including account attachments and the seizure of assets, supplemented by automated electronic attachment procedures.
Purchases, expenses, rents and interest arising from transactions with businesses in non-cooperative tax jurisdictions continue to be subject to particularly strict tax scrutiny; the rules on transfer pricing documentation between related businesses have since been further tightened and aligned with the OECD BEPS standards.
As of June 2026. All information on these pages is provided without guarantee or liability.