On-site inspections by tax authorities around the country were the order of the day over the three-day weekend in Greece, with Aug. 15 marking a major religious holiday and the height of the annual tourism season in the east Mediterranean country.

 

One high-profile “tax raid” came at the annual gathering at an iconic northern Greece monastery near Mt. Vermio, Imathia Prefecture, which attracts tens of thousands of ethnic Pontian (Black Sea) Greeks on the feast day.

 

Checks by tax inspectors were “greeted” with jeers and verbal abuse by stall operators at an outdoor flea market set up outside the monastery.

 

Further east, a popular beach club near the port city of Kavala was ordered closed for 48 hours after tax inspectors ascertained that some 30 customers were not issued receipts upon payment. Aug. 15 is celebrated as the Dormition of the Mother of God (Madonna) feast day in the predominately Eastern Orthodox country.