Santorini – Daily Cruise Ships: AAΔΕ Inspectors Raids

During an organised operation that took place simultaneously in three ports of Santorini, auditors from the Independent Authority for Public Revenue identified and discovered on the spot Tax evasion by boat ownerswhich operate hundreds of cruises daily, bringing thousands of tourists to the Caldera.

On Thursday, August 22, 2024, after sunset, auditors raided the port berths. The inspectors used information and data that indicated that some tourist ships were concealing income in various ways, such as incorrect tax declarations or failure to indicate the charter of the ships, and therefore were not paying a significant amount of taxes to the Greek state. At the same time, thanks to connections in the port management and the local police, they were notified when a tax audit was taking place in the port of Vlychada. They avoided docking and disembarking passengers in this port, changing the course of their ships and resorting to neighboring berths, more hidden and less known, in order to avoid being subject to a tax audit.

Tax police raid

On Thursday after sunset, inspectors raided the port, dispersing to each pier, surprising the first arriving tourist boats, which at that time were returning full of tourists from their day cruise. Numerous on-site tax inspections were carried out and violations were found, which entailed the imposition of VAT fines and special financial sanctions.

The following day, August 23, half of the auditors returned to Vlychada and continued their inspection. Some of the ships, calling one after another to disembark passengers, were informed that inspections were being carried out in the same port again and changed course, calling at neighbouring harbours and piers to avoid the tax inspection. However, another group of auditors was waiting for them there, which took them by surprise and carried out an inspection, finding tax violations there too, and proceeding to impose VAT fines and special financial sanctions.

Results of the raid

A total of 14 vessels were inspected, and violations were found on 8 of them. It was found that in just two days they had concealed a turnover of 10,100 euros, plus 2,420 euros in VAT. In addition to the fines of 20,000 euros for these two days alone, these companies are being closely monitored to establish the total amount of tax evasion.

Source link