AAΔΕ identified fictitious accounts worth 720 million euros: businessmen "saved money" for VAT 143 million euros

Independent Greek Revenue Authority (ΑΑΔΕ) reported the discovery of a large-scale scheme of fictitious business transactions, in which 147 companies in 2025, they executed imaginary transactions worth more than 718 million euros and were not transferred to the budget 143.5 million euros VAT.

According to the department, we are talking about a targeted system of issuing and receiving fictitious tax documentsused to conceal real turnover and tax evasion.

Areas with the greatest violations

As follows from the official statement of ΑΑΔΕ, violations were recorded in a number of key sectors of the economy:

• Construction sector – 20,058 invoices in the amount of 214.4 million euros, unpaid VAT – 50.1 million euros.
• Wholesale trade of food and agricultural products — 7,530 invoices for 81.8 million euros, VAT — 11.7 million euros.
• Wholesale trade of clothing and footwear — 927 invoices for 18.5 million euros, VAT — 2.8 million euros.
• Pharmaceutical products — 1,354 invoices for 39.3 million euros, VAT — 2.4 million euros.
• Metals trading — 171 invoices for 16.7 million euros, VAT — 3.6 million euros.
• Equipment and telecommunications — 174 invoices for 24.1 million euros, VAT — 4.9 million euros.
• Electronics retail — 1,305 invoices for 58 million euros, VAT — 9.6 million euros.
• Consumer goods — 1,587 documents for 16.1 million euros, VAT — 3 million euros.
• Intermediary services — 5,130 invoices for 151.1 million euros, VAT — 35 million euros.
• Business services and company support — 9,779 invoices for 97.6 million euros, VAT — 19.9 million euros.

Circuit mechanism

According to tax inspectors, the identified companies used chains of fictitious suppliers and intermediaries to create an artificial document flow that made it possible to understate real income and generate false tax deductions.

Such schemes allow participants to hide their real turnover for a long time, creating the appearance of legitimate activity.

Financial implications

The total volume of identified fictitious transactions exceeded 718 million euroswhich makes this investigation one of the largest in recent years in the field of tax control.

ΑΑΔΕ emphasizes that we are not talking about isolated violations, but about systematic practiceaffecting a wide range of companies.

Conclusions

The investigation once again demonstrates the scale of the shadow economy and the limited effectiveness of preventive controls. In most cases, violations are already detected after the factwhen the budget has suffered significant damage.

It is expected that the results of the inspections will fines were imposed, additional taxes were assessed and criminal proceedings were initiated against the organizers of the schemes.

At the same time, experts note that without system changes in tax administration, such evasion mechanisms will continue to reproduce in new forms.

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