Five-star Tax Dodgers Uncovered by Greek Revenue Inspectors

Accommodation facilities on Rhodes, Corfu, Santorini and in Ilia, Eastern Attica and Halkidiki appear to have violated tax laws, according to Naftemporiki daily after Greece’s independent Authority for Public Revenue proceeded with cross-checks at specific units.

The inspections carried out at 712 businesses in June including five-star hotels and rooms to let cross-checked declared income against that stated on tax return forms submitted by July 31.

Besides taking into consideration gross revenue, years of operation, destination popularity as well as history of previous tax offenses, authorities also reviewed the rates and number of reservations based on search engine info as well as via phone or on-the-spot surveys posing as customers.

The same procedure will be followed for the months of August and September.

Of the probes to date, seven hospitality businesses — two on Rhodes, one on Corfu, one in Ilia, two in Eatsern Attica and one on Santorini — appear to have violated the law, including four hotels with 300 rooms or more in the four- and five-star categories.

“Inspections and adherence to the law are of utmost necessity for tourism development. It is the government’s duty to publicize findings,” said Greek Tourism Confederation (SETE) President Yiannis Retsos through his twitter account.