As of the beginning of the year, self-employed professionals and individual business owners will find themselves in a tight tax stranglehold from three different directions, in the all-out crackdown declared by the Ministry of National Economy and Finance in order to minimize extensive tax evasion in the sector.

The first level towards tax compliance involves changing the taxation method for self-employed professionals and individual businesses, which until now, in the overwhelming majority of cases, was considered immune to scrutiny by the Tax Authority, as they declared minimal income.

Second in line of "attack" against tax evasion will be the mobilization of forces within the Independent Authority for Public Revenue (AADE), in order to focus audits where a significant amount of concealed taxable material actually exists, so as to yield greater quantitative results. As officials at AADE point out, until now, we were forced to conduct – on a sample basis – audits on a large volume of taxpayers, but from now on, this scope will be restricted and audits will be more focused.

Third in line, but not in terms of significance, is the interconnection of cash registers with point-of-sale (POS) devices, as well as the extension of its use to cover the entirety of economic activity. Minister of National Economy and Finance, Kostis Hatzidakis, even went so far as to dismiss any discussion of a possible extension in the implementation of the measure earlier this week.