Pitfalls of information technology companies in the tax office

In a weak state (even financial staff suspect indecision) IT companies, Accounting machines And POS And symbolic measures to deal with it are at risk of sticking Tax evasionsuch as interconnection of cash registers with points of sale and Addy. As another deadline approaches for this measure to enter into force, Ministry of National Economy and Finance It found that the necessary technical updates to information systems in a large part of the market have not been completed, which will inevitably lead to another extension. But this time, the political leadership of the ministry decided to change tactics. On the one hand, because these are substantive measures and also have strong political symbolism, and on the other hand, because their implementation is a prerequisite for disbursing a slice of the budget. Recovery Fund. Hence his decision Kostis Hatzidakis Proceed with the development of a legislative regulation that provides for the imposition of strict penalties and fines on companies that do not update the software they provide to their customers, so that interconnection between cash registers, points of sale and AADE becomes possible.

The irony of this issue is that not only small and medium-sized Greek IT companies are – or often – insufficient to respond to the digitization of tax procedures and mechanisms, but also multinational giants, which also cooperate with large multinational companies demanding audit firms for government digitalization projects, which It is financed with funds from the Recovery Fund. This is exactly the money the state is at risk of losing due to its inability to link cash registers and points of sale.

This shows that a multinational IT company, one of the largest and most well-known companies in the world, has left its Greek customers exposed because it has not yet modified its software to issue invoices with… QR code. Worse still, he doesn't deserve to give them a timeline for adapting to what is ultimately the law of the state in which he operates and from which he claims public works. “It's a huge boat, absolutely excellent quality, but it doesn't turn at all,” says one finance executive.

In light of the above, the government is going so far as to cancel the license of companies that do not take the necessary measures by next February 29. According to the information, the amendment will stipulate the imposition of fines, suspension of the operating license, and even “expulsion” from the market by removing the license.

Immediately after the national elections in June, the leadership of the Ministry of National Economy and Finance, in cooperation with AADE and market operators, developed a new schedule for the interconnection of cash registers with points of sale. The problems that arose, delays in updating cash registers and various other issues led to a shift in the timing of the interface of cash registers to POS terminals.

In March 2022, the decision on the technical specifications for the interface of cash registers with POS terminals was put out for public consultation. A few months later, specifically in July 2022, the decision was issued specifying the terms and conditions for linking points of sale with tax mechanisms. In fact, the decision emphasized that interconnection is necessary to ensure the issuance of tax transactions through card payment, in order to effectively monitor tax and reduce tax evasion. In March 2023, the finance staff and AADE announced the timeline for their interconnection.

The Ministry of Finance even warns that the operating license will be withdrawn if they do not complete the work by February 29.

Accordingly, it is expected that more than 400,000 cash registers will be linked to points of sale by the end of June 2023. It should be noted that March (2023) planning stipulated that by June 400,000 tax machines will be mandatorily linked to points of sale for companies with a turnover of up to To 100,000 euros and by July 2023 for companies with a turnover of more than 100,000 euros. Nearly 140,000 tax machines should be retired by October 2023 and replaced with new machines that store all amounts in their tax memory, issue relevant reports and transmit transactions directly, rather than via computer, to AADE.

It was decided to interconnect cash registers and points of sale, as the checks that were conducted confirmed the following:

1. Mechanisms are used that do not record tables and orders.

2. Requests are recorded in files on the computer and not in the Financial Mechanism (FIM).

3. Request vouchers are issued and then canceled without being recorded in the mechanism’s tax memory, or a final receipt is not issued.

4. The turnover is eliminated after it occurs.

5. The receipt is issued by the point of sale, not by the cash register.

Why is contacting the point of sale important?

What the government and tax administration wants is for the retail receipt to be issued at the same time as the point of sale receipt (EFTPOS system). This is because many companies do not issue a retail receipt for credit or debit card transactions. It is expected that the implementation of the new procedure will reduce the possibilities of tax evasion and highlight taxable income. Mainly through the interface, cash registers and POS devices are unified with full recording of all data in real time and the possibility of direct verification through control mechanisms. With the new system, cash registers and POS devices will no longer operate independently for debit transactions. That is, for card payments, entering the payment amount by writing at the point of sale will not be allowed.

According to the Ministry of National Economy and Finance, the interconnection project is very complex, which requires continuous cooperation and coordination between dozens of companies to upgrade the software and interconnection of 400,000 point-of-sale systems and the same amount of cash registers. The progress already made is significant, as the Department and AADE have completed 11 legislative and administrative actions that were required to move the project forward. especially:

– In September 2023, the Point of Sale (POS) registry was created and the first data transfer from providers was completed.

– In October 2023, all decisions related to the schedule and the interconnection process were issued.

– In November, the deadline for submitting a statement to the POS Registry expired (1,032,000 POS registered) and a special committee was created to better coordinate and organize the progress of the project.

– In December and January, service providers had the time frame to comply with the new POS advertising rules and operating framework.