A digital superweapon against “black” money deposits.

The fire is on Tax Audits Increase in property from Adi With the new smart software that “reads” bank accounts in record time, Money transfersDeposits, loans, ATMs, credit cards, prepaid cards and even e-wallets and automatically rings the “bell” for any suspicious movement and change.

This is the new digital super weapon that has been operational since the beginning of the year and has already sounded the alarm for 1,100 natural persons. Summons will be sent to the specified taxpayers to explain the discrepancies in the amounts of money detected by the system by providing the corresponding documents on the sources of the origin of the funds. If they do not cover the difference, it will be considered an unjustified increase in assets and they will be required to pay a tax of 33%, additional fines, additional fees and a special solidarity fee, and the final bill will therefore exceed 50% of the amount. unjustified amount.

Officials say the new automated system is “catching” hidden income and assets, and that controls will be intensified and expanded as evidence so far shows serious signs of widespread tax evasion.

The focus will be on e-wallets and services such as PayPal. Today in Greece there are more than 3 million digital wallets with a transaction value for 2023 approaching 12 billion euros.

The automated asset addition control mechanism allows the supervisory authorities to obtain relevant information for quick action. This data is compared with tax returns to determine whether the value of the movable property and living expenses is justified by the income shown in the return.

In more detail, the data sent to the system by banking and financial institutions relate to the following:

1. Demand and Time Deposits
2. Grant
3. Investment accounts with all types of investment product portfolios and securities, such as mutual funds, bonds, stocks, bank installments, derivatives, repurchase agreements, etc.
4. credit cards
5. ATM machines
6. Accounts Payable
7. Prepaid cards
8. Electronic wallets.

In fact, the data and information sent may date back to the past decade from the date of submission of each request for information from the tax administration, while each request must be responded to within two working days at the latest.

To avoid unpleasant surprises and adventures with the tax authorities, taxpayers should know the following:

• The addition of property can refer to movable or immovable property of any kind, land, houses, cars, boats, airplanes, stocks, coupons, deposits, etc. According to the law, if the tax authority identifies an asset, for example, an amount in a bank account of unknown origin, which is not justified by any source of income (salaries, income from managing a business or from real estate exploitation, etc.), it is automatically classified as an “increase in property”.
• In the event that the taxpayer is summoned by the tax office, he shall bear the burden of proving the source or reason for origin or that the aforementioned increase in his funds is subject to tax under special provisions, or that it is exempted by a special text. In the event that the receipts are not satisfactory, any increase shall be described and subject to tax as income from liberal professions at a rate of 33% in addition to fines, additional fees and the imposition of a special solidarity fee.
• Taxpayers can justify any increase with additional income that does not appear on their tax return, stating the additional income they received from the above activities, if this can be proven.
• A change in the composition or maintenance of the property does not necessarily mean an increase in it.
• To justify the increase in wealth through the disposal of assets or through the acquisition of income that in the past did not have to be reported in the personal income tax return, either because it was tax-exempt or because it was taxed in a special way (such as interest and sale of listed shares), it must be proven with appropriate legal documents. Also, in cases where the taxpayer claims that the increase in assets comes from a donation, loan, parental benefit, inheritance, etc., it must be verified whether the donor, lender, provider or heir is able to pay the amounts claimed by the taxpayer, as well as whether the amounts stipulated under the provisions in force have been collected at any time.
• The increase in assets resulting from the control of bank accounts must be adequately documented, because withdrawals or deposits may relate to transactions and movements that do not necessarily constitute taxable income.
• The credit in a bank account may be taxed as the account holder’s self-employment income, as long as it is not covered by his declared income, nor any other income that is sufficiently specified and documented, in light of the circumstances, source or cause, or that he invokes after being summoned by the administration to provide relevant information or a prior hearing, or that the tax authority determines in the context of taking the necessary, appropriate and reasonable control measures provided for by law.
• There is no accumulation of ownership, in the case where the source of origin of an amount of money is clear, which appears as a balance in the bank account of the controlled natural person (such as income from capital, income from securities, sale of assets, loan, etc.), even if this amount is not included in the relevant income tax returns, while there was a relevant liability.
• For transfers of funds between bank accounts, the reason for making such transfers is verified after the taxpayer submits the relevant documents.

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