A Breakthrough Year in the Battle Against VAT Evasion
Greece steps into 2025 with a decisive shift in its long running struggle against tax evasion as digital monitoring tools begin to reverse years of lost revenue. Technology rather than tougher penalties emerges as the force that recalibrates the country’s tax landscape.
Digital systems such as myDATA card based transactions and the sharp decline in cash usage push large segments of previously untracked economic activity into official channels. Public revenues benefit immediately with VAT losses shrinking by up to 7 billion euros each year compared with earlier periods.
Mandatory Card Payments Drive Major Compliance Changes
Universal POS acceptance becomes one of the most influential reforms as the 2024 rollout alone adds roughly 400 million euros to VAT revenue. Full year implementation in 2025 is expected to amplify these gains as every professional sector transitions to digitised payments.
Professional income declarations for 2024 reveal historic growth with traditionally high evasion sectors such as bars taxis technical trades and construction reporting increases ranging from 8 percent to more than 15 percent. The shift reflects the narrowing gap between real and declared income enabled by technology driven transparency.
Digital Measures Deliver Rapid Revenue Growth
New digital tools contribute an estimated additional 2.7 billion euros in tax revenue within a single year. Earlier years paint a stark contrast as Greece lost more than 73 billion euros to VAT evasion between 2010 and 2024.
VAT losses that exceeded 7.5 billion euros in 2009 and topped 9 billion in 2011 begin to decline steadily after 2019 falling below 3 billion euros in 2021 and reaching about 2.1 billion euros in 2024.
Real Time Monitoring Reinforces Transparency
The full deployment of myDATA transforms it from a pilot tool into a real time audit mechanism that automatically cross checks invoices and receipts. VAT filings become digitally generated as transactions flow into the system without the delays tied to annual declarations.
Mandatory POS installation coupled with the integration of cash registers eliminates many opportunities to hide income. Each transaction leaves an immediate digital trail visible to tax authorities and consumers.
IRIS instant bank payments expand rapidly across 2024 and 2025 further strengthening the transparency framework as larger retail chains adopt the system and higher transaction limits take effect from 2026.
The Next Phase of Digital Oversight
New steps are already underway with digital delivery notes arriving in 2025 followed by digital invoicing in 2026 and audit processes enhanced through artificial intelligence. Greece moves toward a system with fewer loopholes and higher revenues without raising tax rates.
