Buyer and seller accounts are open real estate their management mechanisms AADE in order to establish the legality of the purchases and sales that have taken place. The auditors are mainly focused on expensive properties that were sold at their price. objective value, and their real value is much higher. They investigate whether there are unreasonable deposits, in particular money transfers from the buyer’s account to the seller’s account, that exceed the sale price of the property. We will also look for cases where large amounts were withdrawn from the buyer’s account during the period the property was purchased, possibly hiding a cash payment for part of the property’s value. In fact, it will be checked whether the purchase amount differs from that specified in the contract, and the surcharge was paid in cash. In this context, methods of indirect control will also be used, such as, for example, the method of paying bills (for example, in cash), travel and the general lifestyle of the seller, who may have collected money “under the table” when selling the property.

These cases are characterized as “high risk” of tax evasion as well as money laundering.

The scope of control includes not only the purchase and sale of real estate. In total, more than 2,500 property checks are planned for 2023, including those related to inheritance, parental benefits and donations. Emphasis will be placed on parental benefits and donations after the non-taxable minimum is increased to 800,000 euros. Short-term rentals will also be used to check whether the income was declared on the tax return, as well as the purchase of real estate by those who have a “golden visa”.

For inheritances, the review focuses on cases where there was an inheritance tax exemption or parental benefit because the value of the property was below the tax-free threshold. In this context, the zone prices specified in the contract are checked. It is noted that the exemption is provided for a house worth up to 200,000 euros for each minor or unmarried and up to 250,000 euros for a married person, which increases by 25,000 euros for each of the first two children and 30,000 euros. for the third and each of the following minor children in the care of the beneficiary. An exemption is also granted for land worth up to EUR 50,000 for each minor or unmarried person and up to EUR 100,000 for each married person, with an increase of EUR 10,000 for each of the first two children and EUR 15,000 for the third and each one after the children.

AADE plan

It will be checked whether the amount differs from that specified in the contract and the surcharge was paid in cash.

As mentioned above, the audits are included in the AADE operational plan for 2023, which also provides for 25,500 tax audits to be carried out by the audit services of the General Directorate of Tax Administration, with 70% of cases from the last 5 years. In particular, the following will be checked:

• Freelancers and businesses that have received VAT refunds, as well as businesses that have received unaudited income tax refunds.

• Prosecutor’s resolutions on review of major tax cases.

• Cases of intra-Community cross-examinations (VIES), cases of inspections carried out by Greek and foreign tax authorities, cases of revocation of licenses to operate offices or branches of foreign companies registered in Greece.

• Cases of non-issuance or issuance of false tax data.