AADE: 190,000 checks and 97,000 citizen complaints

The summer operational plan of AADE (Independent Authority for Public Revenue) is in full deployment, as tourist traffic reaches its peak. AADE has strengthened the presence of its units in the Cyclades, the Dodecanese, Crete and the Ionian islands. However, the checks are not limited to these areas but also cover the rest of the country. The 2026 operational plan provides for more than 190,000 checks, investigations and targeted actions. The goal is to tackle tax evasion, smuggling and economic crime.

Citizen complaints are an important tool for the Authority. Through the appodixi app, as of August 10, 225,551 complaints have been submitted, of which 102,466 were filed under the complainant’s name. In parallel, the «Citizen Complaints» platform has received more than 97,000 reports. Of these, about 84,000 concern tax violations and about 9,700 were filed under the complainant’s name. Named complaints are examined as a priority.

Sectors with strong seasonality are in the checks’ crosshairs. These include restaurants and taverns, cafes and beach bars, tourist accommodations, and car and luxury vehicle rental businesses. Entertainment and water-activity businesses are also being checked, as well as short-term rental properties. The choice of sectors is based on data from previous years. Checks are often carried out outside normal business hours.

The violations being prioritized are failure to issue receipts, forged receipts, and transaction records that were not transmitted. Non-transmission is considered an indication of tampering with cash register software or with the connection between the cash register and the POS terminal. Detecting such tampering carries heavier penalties. The checks are based on cross-referencing data rather than solely on on-site visits. This method has significantly increased effectiveness.

Cross-referencing is done using data from the myDATA system, POS transactions, and transmitted transaction records. Under scrutiny are businesses with unusually low reported revenue relative to their transaction volume. Also checked are frequent receipt cancellations, discrepancies between purchases and sales, delayed transmissions, and low VAT returns. These criteria generate lists of candidates for checks. Selection is now done to a large extent algorithmically.

Data from 2025 gives a measure of the scale of the phenomenon. In that year’s preventive checks, the overall violation rate reached 34.2%. In the tourism sectors specifically, the rate was 33.7%. That means roughly one in three businesses checked was found with some violation. These figures explain the intensity of the summer plan.

AADE has strengthened its digital tools in recent years, with recent examples including the myAGRO platform and complaints via the appodixi app. Citizens can submit complaints either under their name or anonymously. Named complaints are prioritized for checks. More from Greece on the Greece page. The Authority’s announcements are published on its official website.