Greece’s tax authority conducted its first large-scale on-site checks of agricultural subsidy recipients, summoning 195 livestock farmers in the Mylopotamos municipality of Crete, but only 75 turned up.
The Independent Authority for Public Revenue (ΑΑΔΕ) deployed 58 inspectors from across the country to simultaneously check livestock facilities in the wider Zoniana area. Greek police stood on alert to ensure the inspections ran without obstruction.
Farmers were given a few hours’ notice and told to assemble their animals and supporting documents. Of the 75 who appeared, 22 were found to have irregularities, which are being cross-referenced with ΑΑΔΕ server records using a special algorithm. Offenders risk penalties including loss of subsidies.
Absentees face subsidy clawback
The 120 who did not appear face steeper consequences. They will lose their 2025 subsidy applications and be re-inspected in 2026. Any 2025 payments already made on the basis of livestock eligibility will be treated as unduly paid and recovered immediately. They will also be excluded from redistributive support for the remainder of the current programming period.
The average farmer checked had declared 322 goats and sheep. A full inspection of a 300-animal herd required a two-inspector team working for roughly four hours. Tensions arose on the first day but inspectors completed their work undisturbed, according to the announcement.
ΑΑΔΕ Governor Giorgos Pitsilis said the operation was the first time inspections had been carried out on such a massive, coordinated scale to verify that declarations match reality, and that checks would continue across Greece to ensure fair distribution of European resources.
The inspections form part of Greece’s Action Plan with the European Commission.
