The new plan to combat tax evasion

Written by Dimitris Katsagannis

Going forward, e-EFKA’s focus is on tackling tax evasion (in the context of the broader strategy to combat tax evasion), with the aim of protecting employees but also increasing income from contributions.

An important role in dealing with this phenomenon, according to the secure “Capital.gr” information from the fund officials, is played by the ability to focus on cases that are likely to hide the deviant behavior of employers.

To identify such employers, a risk analysis system is used, which, based on relevant rules, classifies employers with corresponding characteristics.

The same sources indicate that rules have been included regarding the age of the person in charge of the work, his involvement in other work or the number of part-time employees in the business, etc.

The cases of employers with the highest “scores” are sent to the Regional Insurance Supervision Centers (PEKA) for review.

The results of the controls are fed back into the system in order to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of risk analysis in the future.

In addition, according to the same information, by linking the Agency’s systems with those of the AADE and the Police, there is the possibility of comparing the details of the employer’s record declared to the Agency with those held by other services.

At the same time, the interface with the “Arjani” system allows the agency’s auditors to extract the image declared by the employer at any time regarding the employees in his work.

Finally, despite the “sameness” of the AI ​​era, the primary tool available to e-EFKA to combat undeclared and undeclared work is to conduct field inspections at employers’ workplaces.

Competent officials confirm that on-site audits bring the agency’s auditing mechanism into direct contact with the working citizen, allowing the capture and collection of real data about his work.

Offender tips

The most common methods of tax evasion are divided into two types:

1. Systematic and long-term avoidance of paying insurance contributions to those already insured, which manifests itself in the following forms:

– Creating virtual subsidiaries, without it being clear that they are jointly responsible, with the aim of:
—– Transfer of employees between companies.
—– Transferring insurance liabilities to companies that have no assets.
—– Default insurance for members of management, members of their families or their environment.

Appointment of business managers (administrative and administrative directors, etc.):
—– “straw men” with no financial surface or previous business activity.
—- Elderly people (up to over 90 years old), who usually have no assets.
—- Foreigners or foreign legal entities, which are not easy to locate.

2. Uninsurance or inadequate insurance of employees due to undeclared and unreported work. This condition includes:

Not registering the establishment in the system.
– Lack of insurance for employees throughout the days and hours during which they actually provide work.
– Lack of insurance for all the wages they actually receive.
– Providing them with all the wages they receive that do not meet the legal level.
– Insurance for employees with a specialization different from the specialization in which they actually work to avoid additional contributions.
– Insurance according to the case (unemployed, farmers), where the cost of insurance contributions is lower.

What the evidence indicates

In the context of improving the targeting, analysis and evaluation of the elements resulting from the examinations of the Regional Insurance Control Centers (PEKA) in relation to deviation and unannounced work reported by the employment sector, the classification and analysis of the elements of controls for all PEKA Exit 2022 was carried out.

As can be seen (Table 1), it is noted that the highest rates of deviation appear in the textile, clothing and leather industries (28.5%), processing – other activities (15.1%), repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles (15%), and construction activities (11.8%). and other service activities (11%), and food service activities (9.4%), compared to an average of 7.6%.In addition, in terms of undeclared work, the textile and clothing processing sector and the leather industry lead again (30.5%), far behind the rest but also compared to an average of 6%.In terms of employment outside working hours, the largest proportions are found in textile processing, clothing and leather industries (25.6%) and food service activities (25.6%).

Table 1: “Heroes” of undeclared work

As for the business sectors in which the largest differences were found in declared employment compared to actual employment (disclosed employment), the highest percentage was found in the agriculture, forestry and fishing sectors (57.3%), although the controls in this category are not high in absolute terms. Followed by branches Administrative and support activities (50.3%), other manufacturing activities (43.8%), repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles (42.6%), education (38%), information and communication (36.9%), etc.

The data can be further analyzed and used by DSSE and the audit planning department to include sectors involved in targeting (risk analysis), as well as in any special audits required to be carried out by PEKA.

2: “Heroes” of the work referred to