Food service under AADE scrutiny

The tax authorities are putting the food service industry, bars and businesses that operate through delivery platforms under increased surveillance.

They are activating a wider network of tax cross-checks, but mainly they are conducting physical inspections, with the aim of establishing whether cash registers are connected to the electronic systems of the tax administration.

The focus is on the actual sales of the businesses, the receipts issued and the amounts ultimately transferred to the myDATA online platform. The intensification of controls comes after the disclosure of the major tax evasion case of Pizza Fan, which brings back to the fore the issue of hiding income in businesses that carry out a large number of online orders.

Food service, bars and delivery businesses rank very high on the list of industries under the focus of the tax administration. The figures in the tax returns are deeply worrying, as thousands of professionals show losses, while those who declare profits show extremely low net incomes, even when their annual turnover amounts to tens of thousands of euros.

The picture that emerges from the Independent Authority for Public Revenue (AADE) data for 2024 shows the average gross revenue was €140,575, but the average net declared profits were limited to only €8,553 per year, about €713 per month. In bars, with gross revenues of €77,989, net profits did not exceed €5,947 per year or just €496 per month.

This data does not in itself constitute proof of tax evasion. It is, however, an important field of auditing interest, as the distance between the gross revenues and the declared net profits creates suspicions of tax evasion and, by extension, the need for a more substantial scrutiny of the financial data declared.

AADE auditors are also turning their attention to the data collected by the ordering platforms. Data from online orders is checked against retail receipts issued by stores and transactions transmitted to myDATA.

Kathimerini