Greece Clarifies Fines for Cash Register Violations

The Greek Tax Authority (AADE) has issued Circular E.2044/2026 to clarify how penalties relating to Fiscal Electronic Mechanisms (FHM), including cash registers, tax memories and electronic records, must be applied.

One of the main clarifications concerns declarations for the acquisition, modification, temporary shutdown or permanent withdrawal of a fiscal device. When such a declaration is submitted late on or after September 16, 2024, the business is subject to a fixed fine of €500. The fine does not depend on the accounting system used, the period concerned or the number of fiscal devices included in the late declaration.

The rules are slightly different when the declaration is not submitted at all. For violations committed from September 16, 2024, a €500 fine applies for each fiscal device for which the required declaration was not filed. Earlier violations generally remain subject to the lower penalties that applied when the violation occurred, including a €100 fine for many cases between 2016 and September 15, 2024.

The Tax Authority also explains when a violation is considered to have occurred. For a late declaration, the violation date is the date on which the declaration is eventually submitted. When no declaration is filed, the violation occurs when the legal filing deadline expires. This date determines both the applicable penalty and the period during which the Tax Authority may impose it.

Stricter rules apply when a business fails to preserve a fiscal device, its tax memory or the electronic files it creates. When the loss is reported before a tax audit order is issued, violations committed from January 1, 2016 onwards generally carry a €2,500 fine. When the missing device or records are discovered during an audit, other provisions of the Tax Procedure Code may apply, potentially resulting in separate and more serious penalties for each audited year.

However, the loss of a cash register does not automatically prove that the business continued operating until the date of the audit. When a taxpayer requests a retroactive cessation of business activities, the Tax Authority must examine the available evidence and determine when the fiscal device actually stopped being used.

The circular also provides guidance on limitation periods. The deadline for imposing a fine depends on when the violation occurred and which legal framework applied at that time. Older cases may already be time-barred, while more recent violations are generally assessed under the limitation rules of the current Tax Procedure Code.

Overall, Circular E.2044 gives businesses clearer rules on when cash-register violations occur, how penalties are calculated and how long the Tax Authority has the right to impose them. Businesses should therefore submit all fiscal-device declarations on time and securely preserve their devices, tax memories and electronic records.