Greek spot checks find half of firms cheating on tax

Greek authorities have been trying to improve tax collection

The most recent spot checks by Greek authorities found that almost half of the companies examined were committing some kind of tax offence.

Out of 1,465 spot checks carried out between 25 July and 5 August, 731 firms were found to be breaking the rules.

Greece has been under pressure from the European Union and International Monetary Fund to improve tax collection and crack down on fraud.

But despite government efforts, tax fraud remains a serious problem.

Authorities have been carrying out spot checks which are often based on tip-offs, complaints or are follow-up checks which is why the rate of detection is so high.

The islands of Evia and Skyros had the highest rate of detection, with 85% of firms checked found to be non-compliant.

On Mykonos, Santorini and Crete - popular with tourists - 56% of businesses checked had been breaking tax rules.