By G. Kouros
[email protected]
Data supplied by Greece's independent public revenues authority last week showed that roughly one out of five businesses checked by tax inspectors in the first eight months of the year engaged in tax evasion violations.
In total, the revenue authority's inspectors carried out 61,653 spot checks and audits over the specific period, of which more than 40,000 came in the July-August period - i.e. the height of the lucrative tourism season in Greece.
The most frequent violation noted was failure to properly issue cash register receipts
In 350 instances, businesses were ordered shut, with penalties ranging from a 48-hour closure to 10 days. Twenty-eight instances of obstruction were reported during the inspections.
Beyond the "on site" inspections, the independent authority - a memorandum-mandated action demanded by Greece's institutional creditors - also employed a more complex software program to monitor bank transactions in correlation with declared incomes over the past 15 years.
