AADE: 287 Chinese companies evaded taxes

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Independent Authority of the Hellenic Revenue Service (AADE) discovered a huge network of 287 Chinese companies that used cash register modifications to reduce their declared income many times over.

The AADE investigation found that Behind the Chinese companies was a software company with a Greek legal representative and two Chinese from Slovakia who provided technical support to the criminals by “modifying” their cash registers.

The story began in January, when AADE anonymous complaints were received about illegal actions by a company located in Komotini, another located in Larissa, and a branch in Thessaloniki. In particular complaints concerned unreadable QR codes on receiptsA readability check conducted by AADE found that the complaints were accurate and that the documents stated lower amounts than they actually were.

The “mystery shopper” method was used, in which the Department's employees interviewed customers in the specified stores. To catch the evaders in the act, specialized personnel technologically intervened in the system, reducing the FEM data transmission time from 24 hours to one minute, so that at the same moment the transaction was made, an AADE employee could compare it with the Z data of the cash register. The e-mail campaign identified the supplier of the illegal machine and thus exposed its network of clients, consisting of 287 enterprises, all of which are engaged in retail trade and are owned by Chinese citizens.

An audit for February showed that 220,000 checks were handed over for a total of 3 million euros, but the actual turnover was several times higher, since with cash payment the reduction in the declared value in relation to the actual value reached 90%. A clear example is a check for 21.90 euros, on which the amount declared was … 2.1 euros.

According to AADE chief George Pitsilis, the true extent of tax evasion is still unknown as enforcement continues, but is expected to reach “unprecedented heights”.

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