The tax authorities are targeting luxury weddings

A luxurious wedding has come to the attention of the Greek tax administration, which is looking for tax evaders, and has come under the microscope of auditors after information received through posts on social networks.

In particular, the wedding, which was organized with all possible luxury, filled the Internet with posts and photographs. Wedding viewing set in motion special software and a team of AADE auditors that scans social networks. Using a special algorithm, auditors began to identify one by one the sponsors of the wedding and subsequent reception.

Nobody issued checks

When tax officials carefully checked the wedding planners, as well as those involved in the service, they found the following in the ADA database:

• A famous singer who sang at a wedding did not send an invoice for this performance through myDATA. In addition, in previous years it was established that he had declared income of approximately 10,000 euros when his personal Facebook page showed numerous appearances of him in nightclubs throughout Greece.
• A person who undertakes wedding planning, who represents himself as a wedding planner and is involved in a company that organizes wedding receptions and baptisms, is not involved in any business for tax purposes and has not started activities through individual entrepreneurship. In fact, he operates professionally through a relative’s business, which is associated with organizing wedding celebrations. However, it appears that no document regarding wedding planning services was issued. This person does not declare any income, including from hiring services. The relative declared gross income of 20,000 for 2022.
• The wedding dress company apparently didn’t issue receipts for the clothes they made. During the wedding, ten receipts are issued, the average amount of which is 300 euros, which, as a rule, is far from the amount of daily rent. The same look (albeit with even smaller average sizes) prevails throughout the year, and its Facebook page shows providing clothing for a large number of weddings and baptisms with distinctly different budgets. Since 2018, the company has declared losses of more than 160,000 euros.
• The estate (Ktima) where the marriage took place issued a document in the amount of 3,000 euros on the date of the marriage. Since 2019, when the company began operations, it has accumulated losses of more than 200,000 euros (each use is unprofitable). She appears to be renting a property with an annual rent in excess of €55,000.
• The wedding cake maker appears to have issued a document for €1,000, which, based on the date of issue, may be related to the wedding. However, this is a business producing cupcakes and especially spectacular/themed cakes for birthdays, weddings and christenings, which, despite its wide popularity due to its presence on social networks, has never shown a profit since its operation, and, on the contrary, accumulates losses more than, than 300,000 euros. In each of the tax returns, starting from 2019, to justify the person’s expenses, either the capital expenditure code, or the asset sale/borrowing code, or both codes were filled out.
• The company that provided the reception dishes does not have a cash register and does not transmit data through myDATA. Therefore, there will be no transfer of any documents related to the wedding reception. In 2022, the turnover was less than 6,000 euros and the loss was about 9,000 euros, while the company’s social media page shows that it has applied a highly aesthetic “art de la table” to a number of receptions.
• The hairdresser who did the bride’s hair did not register the cash register with the tax authorities.. Only some business invoices appear from MyDATA, so even then there is no indication of prices for services provided to the bride. The company’s social media sites feature a variety of wedding hairstyles created by the company. There is no income on her tax returns for the last three years.
• The individual business that did the bride’s makeup apparently did not issue a receipt for their services. She has a personal website, which paints a completely different picture of her actual income, and her Instagram page shows a variety of jobs she’s done in the past. On her personal page she shows samples of her work from 15 weddings (mostly held outside Athens – Mykonos, Paros, Costa Navarino, Porto Heli) for which she was asked to provide makeup artist services. In general, she appears to exclusively focus on high-budget weddings/events, which completely contradicts her declared income. It is characteristic that in 2022 she declared gross income (turnover) of just over 8,000 euros.
• The florist issued a document in the amount of 490 euros, which, judging by the date, may be related to the wedding. The company said gross revenues in 2022 would be 239,000 euros and an operating loss of just under 10,000 euros. However, he does have about 10 very large capacity trucks, which he apparently uses for deliveries. The business owner also maintains a personal website that showcases his exquisite style of floral arrangements and involvement in “luxury” weddings, which becomes even more apparent when visiting his Instagram page. The tax returns he filed for the past three years show virtually no income.
• The jewelry store where the engagement ring was purchased does not transmit sales data through either eSend or myDATA. Consequently, no evidence of the existence of the ring, which was claimed to be of great value, was discovered. The total gross income of the business since 2017 is about 3,000 euros and, apparently, the owner’s declarations are practically devoid of income. However, the owner’s Instagram page shows that a lot of jewelry and used Rolex watches have been sold.
• The individual enterprise that carried out the photography does not use a cash register, and myDATA does not show the transfer of the document on the provision of photographic services, which it offered at the wedding. The award-winning company’s website features many photographs of techniques that it covers in an extremely professional manner. The gross income she has declared since 2017 ranges from 8,500 to 11,000. In the 2022 declaration, in order to justify the purchase of a property worth approximately 200,000 euros, she declared a capital consumption amount greater than that shown in the AADE file.
• The musician performing at the party started in 2021 and, judging by his personal Facebook pages, has participated in a particularly large number of events and concerts. Taken together, the sole trader’s income for 2021 and 2022 was just under €7,000, with a cumulative loss result of around €6,000. He also declares approximately €15,000 (combined for both years above) as income from paid work. It does not appear from the data submitted to myDATA that a document was issued for his presence at the wedding.
• The wedding DJ took a break from his solo business in 2011 and is not part of any company. Although he has appeared on social media as a DJ at numerous events, his reported income from paid work in 2022 and 2021 is just over €3,000, and in 2020 and 2019 it is less than €2,000.
• Person decorating wedding reception venue with balloons, appears to be the head of an enterprise that operates in an unknown tax regime, while he is not self-employed and does not participate in any company. He does not declare income, despite the rich photographic material of the places, the design of which he seems to have taken care of.
• Individual PR company who was promoting the wedding, did not send the couple a receipt for their services.

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