Exterminating finesor even sealing indefinitely, foresees a new decision of the Independent Public Revenue Authority (AADE) for the fuel stationsin cases of tax and other violations, with the aim being, obviously, towards smuggling rings.
The fines start from 2,000 euros but can even reach 150,000 euros, depending on the case of the violation. The decisions on the sealings are also tough, as they start from 2 years and reach perpetuity, with the permanent closure of gas stations and destruction of equipment.
It should be noted that the same decision foresees heavy penalties not only for the gas station owners, but also for the installation companies of the input/output monitoring system and for the manufacturers of the necessary software.
In more detail, gas stations are penalized for a series of violations. Specifically, if the gas station owner is caught operating the gas station without having installed an input/output monitoring system, the facility is sealed for 2 years and an administrative fine of 150,000 euros is imposed on the operator of the facility, while the license to operate the facility is permanently revoked.
In case it is found that liquid fuel is stored, marketed or distributed through licensed tanks or meters/pumps, which are not connected or monitored by the installed inflow/outflow monitoring system, the installation is sealed for 2 years by the controlling agency, and an administrative fine of 100,000 euros is imposed . And in this case, the facility’s operating license is definitively revoked.
The same financial penalties are also imposed when it is found that liquid fuels are stored, marketed or trafficked through unlicensed and unmonitored by the system of inflows and outflows of tanks, tanks of tanker vehicles or other types of above-ground or underground storage areas or related routes (pipelines) or through unlicensed and of unmonitored pumps/meters. In these cases, the unlicensed tanks or other fuel storage areas and pipelines or the unlicensed pumps/meters, which were used in the commission of this violation, are destroyed, at the gas station owner’s expense.
The maximum monetary penalty of 150,000 euros is also imposed when unauthorized modification or alteration, in any way and form, of mechanical parts, or software or produced elements of the system, which are kept in the facility and/or sent to the information system for monitoring inputs and outputs of AADE, is found , or in the event that unlicensed tanks or pumps/meters are found to be connected to the inflow-outflow monitoring system while it is being sealed and for 2 years the facility, while the license to operate the facility is definitively revoked. In addition, the electro-mechanical equipment of the system, the central control and data processing unit (console), the fuel level measuring mechanisms in the tanks, the fuel meters/pumps, the Tax Electronic Mechanism, the printing mechanism of the facility, and any other equipment or device are bound or any means used in any way in the above violation.
Unlicensed tanks or other fuel storage areas and related routes (pipelines), and/or unlicensed pumps/meters, which were used, in any way, in the commission of the above violations, are destroyed at the expense of the operator of the facility, after the issuance of the imputation act imposing the administrative fine. Tanker vehicles and their occupants are confiscated if there is smuggling.
Gas station owners have similar consequences when it is found that falsified or fictitious income receipts, or invoices, or slips have been issued, the details of which have not been sent to the AADE inflows and outflows monitoring information system, or have been sent falsified, or in case of non-issue of income receipts or invoices or vouchers.
The case where the facility continues to operate during a breakdown or malfunction of all or part of the input/output system, resulting in the repeated issuance of a daily balance sheet with an error greater than the prescribed one, is considered as non-fulfillment of the terms and conditions of the systems operation and is imposed to the holder of the operating license or the operator of the installation an administrative fine of 2,000 euros per day, with a maximum of 40,000 euros per calendar year.