Greek tax authorities are looking for evaders in social networks

A special group of auditors from the Independent Government Revenue Office AADE is “scanning” social media for possible digital evaders.

She checks Facebook, Instagram, TikTok for suspicious transactions, illegal trading and enrichment.

The case of a famous TV presenter and at the same time a successful influencer who was caught in tax evasion, and now she faces a €270,000 fine, is one of the cases investigated by the tax audit mechanism. AADE is preparing to announce new cases of online tax evasion that have been caught in the act using special algorithm.

AADE is increasingly tightening control over those who operate via the Internet, with increased control being a priority of AADE Commander Giorgos Pitsilis, who gave instructions and tasks to auditors, they now have new electronic tools at their disposal.

How do they fall into the AADE “trap”? Method used tax inspectors to identify digital tax evaders is simple: they “scan” social media for faces with hundreds of thousands of followers on Instagram, Facebook and Tik Tok, who advertise everything from clothes and shoes to accessories and nutritional supplements.

They find out if influencers work with or own e-commerce businesses and promote and sell products and services. They control every business, every commercial transaction that goes through the Internet.

Using a special algorithm that performs combinatorial cross-checks, They see the income declared by the audited persons in the tax office. In addition to the declared income of individuals and legal entities, the turnover of online stores is also checked. In fact, cases of selling products without initiating activities in the tax office were revealed.

They collect information from courier companies about the delivery of goods. In the case of the influencer, the supply of goods was much larger than the turnover shown by the online store for both years tested, and in the end it was found that the hidden taxable material of almost 350,000 euros was due to the failure to provide tax information. AADE has confirmed the taxes after starting penalties of €270,000 and the review is ongoing.

In the same time auditors use social media to collect information about audited entities to find evidence that they lead a luxurious lifestyle that does not match the income they declare on their tax returns. Dozens of cases are under review by a special audit team to identify companies that use social media to engage in large-scale tax evasion.

In most cases, businesses are set up that do not have a physical presence but sell products through websites integrated with Facebook or Instagram. It is significant that the audit covers up to several members and friends of the audited company.

Those found to be tax evaders face the risk of taxes and fines.

Source: FROM

Source link