Tax inspectors will stake out businesses in coastal tourist areas this July and August, stopping random customers to check their receipts as part of a sweeping crackdown on tax evasion under Cyprus’s new tax reform framework.
The Tax Department has drawn up a target list of businesses operating mainly during the summer months in high-traffic tourist areas. Those found to be breaking the law face closure until they comply.
Inspections will operate on two tracks: receipt issuance and outstanding tax debts. The new legal framework, in force since January 1, empowers authorities to seal the premises of businesses and individuals with tax debts exceeding €20,000, as well as those failing to issue receipts.
Inspectors outside the door
According to Phileleftheros sources, tax officers will position themselves outside targeted businesses, select customers at random as they leave and ask them to produce their receipts, also checking the goods they purchased. If a business is found not to have issued receipts, or to have issued incorrect ones, inspectors will move into the premises and demand documentation.
Officers will cross-reference data obtained from businesses with receipts collected from customers. Tablets issued to the department will be used to examine receipts, with the necessary software connections to the Tax Department’s system already in place.
Customers who purchased goods will face no liability if a business failed to issue a receipt — responsibility rests solely with the business. Under the legislation, closure is triggered by failure to issue invoices or receipts, issuance of inaccurate invoices or receipts, and obstruction of inspectors carrying out receipt and invoice checks.
500 big debtors in the crosshairs
The second enforcement strand targets 500 businesses carrying tax debts of more than €1 million. These include betting companies, supermarkets, and yacht and car sales companies, among others. Under the new law, the closure measure can be activated for legal persons with debts above €20,000.
In both cases, businesses will receive three warnings and have 25 days in total to comply. The first warning gives ten days to act; a second warning follows with a further ten days; a third and final warning allows five more days.
If a business still fails to comply, its premises will be sealed. The closure is lifted once the Tax Commissioner issues a compliance certificate. Where non-compliance continues, the Tax Commissioner may seal the premises for a period of up to 20 days.
From 2027, businesses will also face closure for failure to submit tax returns, VAT returns and withholding tax declarations. That provision is included in the law but has been frozen for one year to give taxpayers the opportunity to regularise their affairs.