Dozens of luxury SUVs and expensive sedans, which on paper were declared immobilised so their owners could avoid paying road taxes, were found by the Independent Authority for Public Revenue (AADE) to be provocatively circulating on Greek roads.

At the same time, other vehicles were identified that had been declared as wrecked or intended for spare parts, but had been reconstructed in yards and workshops and were also being driven without legal documentation on Greek roads.

This revelation resulted from an AADE operation to track down vehicles declared as inactive. Cross-checks brought to light 161 cases of blatant illegality, with owners facing hefty fines of €10,000 each, amounting to more than €1.6 million in total.

The trick with “cut-up” vehicles
Inspections carried out in Attica, Thessaloniki, Thessaly and Crete revealed the scale of the fraud. Inspectors found 123 cars and 38 motorcycles violating the immobilisation status. The most shocking case was uncovered in Trikala: at a used-car trading business, 102 vehicles were found ready for commercial use or dismantling for spare parts, even though they should have been immobilised.

Specifically, as AADE announced, the inspections identified 161 vehicles violating the immobilisation regime, many of which had high commercial value.

The main findings concerned vehicles declared immobilised that still bore licence plates, vehicles registered as immobilised at a location different from where they were found, as well as many “cut-up” vehicles intended for sale as spare parts without following the prescribed procedures.

The majority (almost 60%) were found in a single business dealing in used cars and spare parts in the Trikala regional unit. There, 102 vehicles were discovered in commercial use despite mandatory immobilisation, revealing a practice well-known in the market, creating unfair competition for合法 businesses and posing risks for buyers.

In addition, 3 vehicles were found for which the required Registration Tax had not been paid.

Closing
In Thessaloniki, inspections recorded 11 cars violating the immobilisation status, while in the Heraklion regional unit violations were found in 38 motorcycles and 1 vehicle.

Finally, in Attica, inspections identified 9 vehicles that were in circulation in violation of their immobilisation status.

For all the above cases, an administrative fine of €10,000 is imposed for each violation, exceeding €1.6 million in total, while in the event of repeat offences the fine is tripled.