Fines for those who “tweak” cash registers are getting tougher

The new list of fines and their maximum size is introduced by the amendment of the Ministry of Finance, and concerns cases of detection of “hacked / tweaked” cash registers, lack of accounting books or evasion from filing tax returns.

The proposed provision streamlines the amount of fines imposed. The goal is to make the fines payable by taxpayers, not just “inflate”. The changes are taking place in the context of efforts to combat tax evasion, especially with regard to VAT.

Fines are imposed only in the context of a partial preventive on-site inspection, the maximum ceiling ceases to apply when the owner-user of the cash register is the culprit. The amendment for each type of violation provides the following:

1. Penalties for non-compliance with accounting books. For violations related to non-preservation of accounting documentation, and the absence of tax electronic mechanisms (ΦΗΜ), receipt tape, etc. (reflecting the work of the cash register), there are sanctions:

A 15% penalty is imposed on business income for each audited year, as it is the result of the average reported income (in income tax returns) over the last 3 tax years. The fine cannot be less than 10,000 euros for the audited year for books and 30,000 euros for accounting documents.

According to the new regulation, the amount of fines cannot exceed three times the size of the lower case.

2. Penalties for failure to submit relevant documentation (to legal entities): even if one of the tax returns for the last three tax years has not been filed, the penalty is calculated based on the average income of the submitted tax returns and cannot be less than EUR 30,000 for the audited year. in the case of the obligation to keep books of accounting, and 50,000 euros for the year in which the audit is carried out, in the case of the obligation to keep diplomatic books (τήρησης διπλογραφικών βιβλίων). According to the new regulation, the size of the fine cannot exceed three times the size of the minimum fine.

3. Penalties for “cheating” cash registers: upon detection of a violation, falsification or any interference with the operation of electronic tax mechanisms (ΦΗΜ), as well as the issuance of ΦΗΜ relevant data that do not work in accordance with the approved specifications, the work of all professional facilities, where the cash register is installed, is suspended for a period of 2 to 12 months, and a fine of EUR 100,000 is imposed.

According to the new regulation, when the perpetrator of the violation is the owner-user of the electronic tax mechanism (cash desk), the amount of the fine is imposed without applying the limit values. The ruling also applies to cases in which no final fines were imposed by November 29, 2021.

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