The head of the ADDE, Mr. Giorgos Pitsilis, describes 2024 as a “milestone” year for tax administration.

In a statement, he lists the 24 most important projects and actions that took place last year, such as the new model of administration and controls, with continuous modernization of digital tools to address tax evasion and smuggling, the result of which is already reflected in increased tax revenues and the significant reduction of the FPA gap.

As the Commander of the CSA stresses, “The past year is a milestone for the modernization of the tax customs administration. We are abandoning the organizational structure of the past, which was based solely on local competence, and creating the next-generation ADMA, investing in knowledge specialization, personalization of service, digitization of processes, and integration of cutting-edge technologies, leveraging the capabilities provided by the Recovery and Resilience Fund,” he said

In detail, according to a statement from the ADDE, its 24 most important achievements for 2024 are:

Revenues – Tax refunds

1. Exceeding the revenue target by €5.4 billion (an excess of more than 8%, based on provisional December data) and a significant reduction in the VAT tax gap as a result of an improvement in:

– voluntary tax compliance

– effectiveness in combating tax evasion and smuggling

2. New record of tax refunds. Almost 7.2 billion euros were refunded, exceeding the annual target by more than 9%, boosting the liquidity of businesses.

Improving service – Digitising services for the benefit of citizens and businesses

3. Implementation of the myAADEapp application for direct and easy access to digital services from the mobile phone. To date, 550 thousand citizens have downloaded the application.

4. Improvement of the automated VAT refund system with:

– Completion of interoperability with the Social Security Electronic Governance System (ESGIS), for simultaneous offsetting of tax and social security debts and acceleration of tax refunds

– possibility of declaring foreign IBAN (SEPA countries) for tax refunds

5. Ability to pay tax liabilities by cards of foreign credit institutions. To date, 60,644 payments have been made, totaling EUR 30.9 million.

60,609,930,000 payments have been made in total, of which 30.9 million euros have been paid.

6. Creation of a platform for submitting digital transaction tax returns: 1,286 returns were submitted only within December 2024 (platform launch)

7. Pre-clearance of 1.4 million income tax returns and automated submission of 423,000 returns

8. Granting of VAT to over 710,000 minors under 12 years of age

9. Digitization of business interruption: 9,000 business interruptions completed with a fully automated process

10. Digital issuance of Certificate of Indebtedness for transfer of real estate due to force majeure and collection of money: more than 55,000 digital Certificates of Indebtedness for transfer of real estate and collection of money were issued

Fifty-five hundred and fifty thousand mortgages and receipts for the payment of debts and the recovery of debts.
11. Improvements and expansion of myPROPERTY with:

– Digital filing:

o the amendment returns for Transfer Tax on Real Estate, Donations, and Parental Benefits

o declarations for the establishment or modification of horizontal or vertical properties without tax

– extension of the automatic submission of E9 returns for gifts and parental transfers of real estate

– digital issuance of ENFIA certificates for deceased persons by notaries via myPROPERTY: 148,000 certificates issued within 2024

148,148,000 cases will be completed in 202020

148,000 cases will be completed in 2024

12. Digitization of the filing and payment of the second class ship tax under the second category of the law. 27/1975: 85,000 declarations were submitted digitally

85,000 tax returns were filed in 857,000 cases.
13. Digitisation of the procedure for the submission and management of the Transit Log of private vessels of foreign flag: almost 3,000 documents were submitted digitally
85,000 documents

3.3 million documents have been submitted in total by 3.3 times.
14. Digitisation of customs procedures
3.3 million documents were digitised.

– Digitisation of the procedure for finalising the export of goods: more than 98,000 exports were finalised

– Digitisation of the Entry, Exit, and Transfer of Domestic Goods to the “Free Zone”

98% of domestic goods were processed.

Combating tax evasion and smuggling

15. 430,000 POS interfaces with cash systems of businesses and real-time transmission of tax data to the AADE

16. Pre-completion of VAT and income declarations from myDATA data

17. Development of an automated system for the automated control of wealth accumulation (BANCAPP), for the identification of cases that conceal the commission of fraud and tax evasion

18. CESOP implementation to combat VAT fraud within the European Union, through which cross-border payments are monitored and VAT fraud cases are detected much more quickly

19. Development of an integrated Management Information System (MIS) of data obtained from the Input/Output systems using Artificial Intelligence technologies

20. Adopting due diligence measures to combat smuggling in the distribution of energy products. Sealing of 12 petrol stations for two years and interruption of supply to 77 petrol stations in the application of the due diligence provisions

21. Creation of a common operational infrastructure for the real-time coordination of controls against tax evasion and smuggling, carried out in the field by special control forces of the Hellenic Revenue Service (Financial Transaction Control Forces – FATF).

22. Organisational Reform

The SAO has proceeded to deepen its organizational reform, which was marked by:

– Centralization of structures and functions, ensuring modern working conditions and economies of scale:

KEBIS of Thessaloniki

KEFOK of Attica and Thessaloniki

KEFODE of Attica

– Adoption of the modern, flexible schemes of the Tax Service Services of Attica

– Relocation of the Central Services to a modern, standard bioclimatic building complex, the first one with LEED Gold specifications in the Greek public sector, comparable to similar infrastructures abroad.

23. Projects and Reforms of the Recovery and Resilience Fund

Significant progress has been made in the implementation of the 25 projects included in the Recovery and Resilience Fund, with a budget of around €300 million, of which:

– 3 projects have been completed

5 projects have been completed.
– 10 projects were contracted during the year and are under implementation

– 3 projects are in the contract signing phase within the next few days

– 5 projects are in the tender process

– 4 projects are in preparation for tender procedure

Among the projects contracted is the new Integrated Tax Information System, a milestone project for the Hellenic Tax Administration, as it is going to replace the existing tax and control systems (TAXIS – TAXISNET – ELENXIS).

24. International extroversion

– Hosting in Athens the 17th OECD International Forum of Tax Administrations (FTA), the most important meeting of heads of tax administrations worldwide

– Hosting in Athens the 50th-anniversary workshop of the European Customs Inventory of Chemical Substances (ECICS), in cooperation with the European Commission’s Directorate General for Taxation and Customs Union (DG TAXUD) and the European Customs Laboratory Network (CLEN)