More and more citizens are turning to the Independent Tax Authority (AADE) platforms to report, nominally or anonymously, cases of tax evasion. It is notable that complaints of fake receipts through the ‘A’ app have increased significantly. The same applies to the application of AADE in relation to reports of tax evasion, smuggling or corruption.
So far, 185,573 complaints have been submitted to “A”, of which 85,146 are named and the remaining 100,427 are anonymous. And this despite the AADE decision pending activation of the rewards system, at which time the number of complaints about “fake” receipts is expected to increase even further.
AADE, through the complaints it has received, has managed to identify thousands of cases of tax evasion, through cross-referencing of data from various sectors, such as restaurants, but also from circuits that use special software to “disappear” the turnover of companies at the push of a button.
Citizen response to filing complaints for cases of tax evasion and other violations is also high, as citizens have the ability to file anonymously or by name. Based on the most recent data, they were sent to:
· Anonymous corruption: 2,163 reports
· Corruption identified: 633 reports
· Anonymous customs: 307 complaints
· Customs names: 26 complaints
· Anonymous inspector: 21,217 complaints
· Tax surnames: 3,105 complaints
An element of particular importance is that AADE warns that anyone making a complaint must be aware that both the text of the complaint and the information it declares such as name, address, etc., constitute data, which may be able to be disclosed to the complainant (art. 15 of the GDPR, art. 33 law 4624/19, art. 5 law 2690/99, decision no. 73/2010 of the Personal Data Protection Authority).