Fines up to 50,000 euros for those who erase cash register data

Severe fines, up to 50,000 euros, threaten entrepreneurs who, after a tax audit, found that they “erased” files and memory from cash registers in order to hide turnover and avoid paying taxes.

The AADE, in a new circular, provides guidance on the practical application of the provisions of Article 54E of the Tax Code (Law 4987/2022) to individuals and legal entities in the context of conducting a tax audit, and also defines penalties for violations detected after the audit for failure to maintain accounting records and for failure to maintain or provide at the request of tax electronic mechanisms (FEM), tax memories and records created by FEM.

Depending on the type of offense, the tax invoice is built as follows:

1. If it is found that the person being audited has not kept the accounting records (books) required by the relevant provisions, a fine of 15% of his business income for each audited year, received on the basis of the average value of income declared in income declarations for the last three tax year, not including the one for which the deadline for filing the relevant income tax return has not expired. This penalty may not be less than EUR 10,000 for the audited year in case the person is required to keep single-entry books, or EUR 30,000 for the audited year in case the person is required to keep double-entry books, and cannot be more than than three times the fine applied in each case. Failure to provide accounting records (books) for any reason during a tax audit is tantamount to non-compliance. There is no penalty if the failure to maintain or update accounts does not affect compliance with tax obligations and the filing of tax returns, or if it is possible to determine the taxable amount and the corresponding tax liability in any suitable way.
2. A fine of 15% of the proceeds and a minimum of 10,000-30,000 euros, depending on the type of book keeping, is also imposed in cases where, as part of an on-site preventive check, the competent audit authorities establish that the person being checked did not ensure the safety or did not produce electronic tax machines ( ENM), as well as memories and files created by ENM (a.txt, b.txt, s.txt, e.txt, etc.), which are stored electronically.
   The penalty is imposed on the condition that the taxpayer did not previously declare the loss of FEMs before the above decision was made. In the case of a statement about the loss of the FEM, the fine is 2500 euros.
3. In case of failure to submit at least one of the income declarations for the last three tax years, despite the obligation to do so, the penalty is calculated on the basis of the average income of the submitted declarations and cannot be less than 30,000 euros for the audited year, if the taxpayer is obliged to keep books with one entry, and 50,000 euros for the year tested if the taxpayer is required to keep double entry books, and there can be no more than three times the smallest penalty applicable in each case.

Source link