The technical issue in its system is cited for the non-transmission of receipts to AADE, which led to the temporary closure of H&M stores. However, it is surprising that – as revealed by AADE – the company had not sent receipts from its stores on a case-by-case basis, even since last December! Therefore, the technical issue has existed for months.

The company’s announcement is as follows:

“As already known, since yesterday four of our stores in Volos, Kalamata, Rhodes, and Glyfada remain closed for 48 hours until June 22, following inspections by the Greek Tax Authorities. (Note: a store in the center of Athens had previously been sealed).

This was the result of a technical issue in our system, which only affected the transmission of electronic data to AADE’s digital gateway. As we have already stated, both our local and international teams are continuously working to resolve the issue in collaboration with our technical provider. We are investigating, with the support of both internal and external technical experts, what may have caused the technical problem.

For us, it is extremely important to fully comply with the laws and tax regulations in all countries where we operate. We are at the disposal of the Greek Tax Authorities, fully respecting their institutional role.”

Closure of five stores

Four other stores (following the one in Syntagma) of the well-known multinational clothing chain H&M closed yesterday for two days by the Independent Authority for Public Revenue.

The reason: They were issuing receipts, but not transmitting them to AADE.

Closure
Specifically, the Authority’s auditors, continuing their inspection of the company’s branches throughout Greece, found that:

In Glyfada, from January 24 to June 24, 33,800 receipts were not transmitted, with a net value of €835,000 plus VAT of €201,000. In addition to the closure, a fine of €101,500 was imposed.

In Kalamata, from December 2023 to June 2024, 12,600 receipts were not transmitted, with a net value of €263,000 plus VAT of €63,000. The fine reached €32,000.

In Volos, in the last three years, 125,000 receipts were not transmitted, with a net value of €2.4 million plus VAT of €562,000. The fine amounted to €281,000.

In Rhodes, from January 30 to June 15, 5,300 receipts were not transmitted, with a net value of €125,000 plus VAT of €30,000. The fine amounted to €15,000.

The AADE auditors have begun an audit of the company’s books to record its overall tax compliance behavior.