Following the recent government reshuffle, on 21st March the newly appointed Finance minister Kyriakos Pierrakakis paid a first visit to the Independent Authority for Public Income (AADE) for a working meeting with its director Giorgos Pitsilis.

Mr Pierrakakis and his finance team were informed by Mr Pitsilis and the general managers of AADE about progress on the submission of tax returns, the organisational and digital transformation of the Authority, and progress in the implementation of important projects such as the new customer service call centre, which is expected to be in operation by the summer of 2025.

In an introductory statement before the closed meeting, the Finance minister said that combating tax evasion was one of the government’s basic priorities. “The fight against tax evasion is won day by day, through a combination of human will and technological means,” he said. “AADE makes use of both, with highly trained staff and with all the most modern tools such as Artificial Intelligence and the new ultramodern service centre, a jewel of the Greek public sector.”

“Tax evasion is simply lost income, tax evasion is lost opportunities for the country,” Mr Pierrakakis emphasised, adding that the AADE’s 184,000 programmed investigations constitute “a splendid message chiefly to those of our fellow citizens who scrupulously pay their taxes, who have a great feeling of injustice.”

“Last year’s income from the reduction of tax evasion, resulting from the spread of electronic transactions and the connection of cash registers with the POS system, exceeded €2 billion,” he said, adding: “I can assure you that as tax evasion is reduced, so taxes also will be reduced.”

For his part the director of the AADE Giorgos Pitsilis said that the meeting was an opportunity for a wide-ranging discussion about the strategy and operational planning of AADE, the major challenges represented by tax evasion and smuggling as well as the service of citizens and businesses with new digital tools and new processes.

With the help of new technology, AADE intends to carry out 184,000 tax and customs investigations with the aim of bringing in an extra €1.7 billion into the government’s coffers. Using modern digital tools such as AI, AADE is carrying out digital cross-checking and data analysis to identify cases of tax evasion.

The checks will be initiated on the basis of accusations from citizens but also of suspect cases derived from analysing sources such as social media. A key role in the intensification and effectiveness of inspections will be played by the new “Financial Transaction Audit Forces” [the Greek acronym, DEOS, translates as “awe” in English].
(Haniotika Nea, 22/03/25)